The stories in Everyone Remain Calm reveal landscapes where the surreal and the familiar clash, to visceral effect. A woman yearns for-and dreads-the snowfall that arrives whenever her ex-boyfriend returns to the home she shares with their son. Another character has red-blooded rebound sex with the Incredible Hulk. Marching bands blare all the way from New Orleans to the Midwest. There are wild shootouts, rising tides, and perils embedded in the act of storytelling itself. 'There are words that can kill you if you're not careful,' Stielstra writes. And the stories we tell ourselves are the most fantastic tales of all. Everyone Remain Calm is eerie, hilarious, moving, and down-to-earth, even as its characters defy the rules-sometimes in the ways we wish we could.

About the Author
Megan Stielstra is the author of The Wrong Way to Save Your Life, winner of the 2017 Book of the Year Award from the Chicago Review of Books, as well as Everyone Remain Calm and Once I Was Cool (both reissued by Northwestern University Press). Her work has appeared in The Best American Essays 2013, the New York Times, The Believer, Poets & Writers, Longreads, Tin House, and elsewhere. A longtime company member with 2nd Story, she has told stories for National Public Radio, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Goodman Theatre, and with The Paper Machete live news magazine at the Green Mill. She teaches creative nonfiction at Northwestern University and is a mentor editor with the OpEd Project supporting women's voices in public discourse.


Book Information
ISBN 9780810143944
Author Megan Stielstra
Format Paperback
Page Count 136
Imprint Northwestern University Press
Publisher Northwestern University Press
Weight(grams) 221g