When Robert Coover’s first collection Pricksongs & Descants came out in 1969, his short story “The Babysitter,” took the literary world by storm. Described as “metafiction at its best,” his work is taught in classrooms more than half a century later, no less relevant—and irreverent—than at its debut. Provocative, experimental, and biting, Coover’s darkly satiric writing has pushed the avant-garde to its limits and sired a generation of postmodernists.

Coover Stories is the fourth short story collection from Robert Coover. Drawing on decades of experience, the William Faulkner Foundation Award–winning writer continues to shock and engage his readers with his wit, style, and keen critical eye for the paradoxes of modernity.