Palace of fine junk

Palace of Fine Junk is a collection of short stories that explores topics of discomfort, isolation, and the desire to build connections. These stories are informed by research of insect behaviors, office bureaucracies, and Catholicism. The title story follows a young woman who works at a home decor store and finds herself obsessively watching a particular film starring Bette Davis. Another follows an earnest but ill-suited educator at a professional conference; another, a woman serves up uncooked steaks while her husband takes a walk in the desert. In this collection, I am curious in approaching systems of order and relationships as different types of ecosystems, putting daily life under a microscope to look at the sinister small things and the overlooked absurdities.