The Guy We Didn’t Invite to the Orgy

“Groups are difficult,” says one of the characters in David’s third short story collection, The Guy We Didn’t Invite to the Orgy and other stories, and she might as well be speaking for all the characters in the book. These stories—funny, surprising, true to life—are about people choosing whether to go it alone in the world or try to find a place for themselves, whatever it takes. They travel across the world to meet new people; they join cults and awkward social clubs; they stumble through strange workplaces. There are belly dancing troupes and patriotic theme parks, barber shops and orgies. There’s a whole world of people—befuddling, a little scary, and riding on hope. In the words of author Roy Kesey, “In this striking collection, David Ebenbach inhabits a series of minds that most of us would classify as unknowable; he does so with empathy and wisdom, and often with humor as well.”

“An enormously lovable collection of stories that explores the alienation that most people feel, but attempts to resolve it, showing that in the end ‘We are all the same,’ if only because we all feel ourselves to be on the outside looking in.” – N. West Moss, Best New Fiction Best New Fiction