In his first story collection, Gabe Luzier takes a darkly comic look at the everyday connections between life, habit, and madness. Twelve tales are included here: ranging from the surreal, black humor of “The Trial of Benjamin Donahue,” to the sincere vision of childhood hope in “Trip Day,” to the cerebral horror of “There Is a Nightmare, and I Want You to Have It,” to the riotously inventive title story that will leave readers wary of their next-door neighbors’ pastimes. Brimming with strangeness and penetrating insight, this vibrant collection from Gabe Luzier reveals the inherent oddity of all creatures of habit.
“Always bidding us to think twice and look further, Luzier invests everyday objects—a blender, a cookie, a canopy bed—and the people who make use of them, with a wry malevolence and a style all his own. Lifting a pair of his adjectives, I’d say that CREATURES OF HABIT marks a royal and dangerous fiction debut.”
— James Magruder, author of Let Me See It
Words & Works 