An evocative collection about the gap between the people we aspire to be and our flawed realities from “a radiant new voice” (Megha Majumdar).

Both expansive and intimate, Bad Neighbors follows protagonists who strive to be the parents, lovers, siblings, friends, and children they’d like to be. Yet, jealousy or pride so often leads them astray, revealing how hard it is to care well for the people we love.

In “Floaters,” a woman grieves her sister while confronting all the ways in which she silently competed with her; in the title story, a couple confronts the problems in their marriage as they search for their lost dogs; in “Beasts,” a neurodivergent teen recalls his last ordinary night with his brother and mother before they learned of her terminal illness.

Playful, surprising, and confident, Bad Neighbors is an exquisite collection for readers of Lucia Berlin, Aysegül Savas, and Samantha Hunt.