"Alzayat’s slim, powerful debut collection showcases the author’s deep empathy and imagination in stories about grief, assimilation, and trauma... This intelligent collection is a force to be reckoned with."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

The award-winning stories in Dima Alzayat’s collection are luminous and tender, whether dealing with a woman performing burial rites for her brother in “Ghusl,” or a great-aunt struggling to explain cultural identity to her niece in “Once We Were Syrians.”

Alzayat’s stories are rich and relatable, chronicling a sense of displacement through everyday scenarios. There is the intern in pre-#MeToo Hollywood of “Only Those Who Struggle Succeed,” the New York City children on the lookout for a place to play on the heels of Etan Patz’s kidnapping in “Disappearance,” and the “dangerous” women of “Daughters of Manāt” who struggle to assert their independence.

The title story, “Alligator,” is a masterpiece of historical reconstruction and intergenerational trauma, told in an epistolary format through social media posts, newspaper clippings, and testimonials, that starts with the true story of the lynching of a Syrian immigrant couple by law officers in small-town Florida. Placed in a wider context of U.S. racial violence, the extrajudicial deaths, and what happens to the couple’s children and their children’s children in the years after, challenges the demands of American assimilation and its limits.

Alligator and Other Stories is haunting, spellbinding, and unforgettable, while marking Dima Alzayat’s arrival as a tremendously gifted new talent.

Unless your child is an '80s villain, we can all agree that Brad, Todd, and Brandi with an 'i' are all atrocious ideas. This Two Dollar Radio Guide will help you name your child by calling attention to those names you should probably definitely avoid.

Inside, you’ll find musings on all the worst monikers—even yours—which means you now have a new gift idea for your family members. Who needs 23 and Me, when rather than finding out if you’re 2.7 percent Welsh, you can get to the bottom of why your cousin Dale Henry is an 8-year-old girl with an overbite, and not a grizzled country and western singer.<br> Also inside: <li>Fiona: Ahh, yes, you like Disney. Who doesn’t? But there are no actual princesses, while many women grow up to become penpals with murderers and marry them in prison. You’re playing with fire. <li>Dylan: Can you still love your child if they grow up to send dick pics through LinkedIn? <li>Hailey: It’s hard to hear anyone say “I’m not racist, but…” especially when it’s a 14-year-old. Who wronged her? It was you.<br> In this ever-changing world, it’s hard to know how life is going to turn out for your new- or soon-to-be-born. You can’t keep them from getting their heart broken. And you won’t be able to shield every force of evil from them over the course of their whole life. You will, however, be able to avoid naming them Harley. You will need our help.

We are all explorers, vegan food explorers — join us on this culinary journey as we slay Vegan Hunger Demons.

If you've searched online for a recipe, you've likely encountered a digressive treatise on family history or mundane childhood reflection, none of which actually has anything to do with how to make enchilada sauce. After extensive scrolling, you've really only uncovered that self-taught chef/blogger Linda needs to talk to a professional counselor about her relationship with her mother.<br><br>In this <i>Two Dollar Radio Guide to Vegan Cooking</i>, executive vegan chefs Jean Claude van Randy and Speed Dog unearth a fount of vegan cheffing knowledge. In addition to exquisite recipes and vegan life hacks, they, too, view food as a story: nary a meal is prepared without recalling when Speed Dog summited Goat Peak in Banff armed with nothing more than a sack full of cherry ring pops and a wily pack burro.<br><br>This Guide to Vegan Cooking is for you if: You're looking for satisfying vegan food; interested in a vegan diet but unwilling to give up cheese; accessible vegan recipes that don't require hard-to-find ingredients you have to google and can't pronounce; the adventurous tales behind the meals.