I'll Give You a Reason: Stories - Paperback

by Annell López (Author)

Finalist for the 2025 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection

A shimmering debut story collection intimately exploring race, identity, and the pursuit of the American Dream.The vibrant stories in I'll Give You a Reason explore race, identity, connection, and belonging in the Ironbound, an immigrant neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. A young widow goes on her first date since her husband's death and finds herself hunting a bear in the woods with a near stranger. An unhappy wife compares her mother's love spells and rituals to her own efforts to repair her strained marriage. A self-conscious college student discovers a porn star who shares her name and becomes obsessed with her doppelgänger's freedom and comfort with her own body.Annell López's indelible characters tread the waters of political unrest, sexuality, religion, body image, Blackness, colorism, and gentrification--searching for their identities and a sliver of joy and intimacy. Through each story, a nuanced portrait of the "American Dream" emerges, uplifting the voices of those on its margins.

Author Biography

Annell López is the winner of the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and the author of the short story collection I'll Give You a Reason, a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for best debut short story collection. Named a best short story collection of 2024 by Electric Literature, I'll Give You a Reason has been longlisted for the Maya Angelou Book Award, the Reforma Latinx Book Award, and shortlisted for the Clark Fiction Prize. Most recently, López was recognized as a Gambit's 40 under 40. Her work has appeared in Guernica, American Short Fiction, The Common, Brooklyn Rail, Refinery29, and Time Magazine. López received her MFA from the University of New Orleans, where she was awarded the Joanna Leake Fiction Prize. She is working on a novel.