A review by karencarlson
The New Order by Karen E. Bender

dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.25

 Bender likes to use humor, leaning into absurdity, to underline the serious points she wants to make in this collection that "examines the sense of instability" she sees in recent American life, an instability that has only become more pronounced since its publication in 2018. Several of the stories concern characters adjacent to violence; they aren't victims, but are affected anyway. Others are overtly political. The final story ends on a note of hope, and offers a way of ameliorating the "the emotional costs of living under constant threat."
FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense.