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Entry Level, the debut short story collection of Wendy Wimmer, selected by Deesha Philyaw as the winner of the 2021 Autumn House Fiction Prize, focuses on an eclectic cast of characters trying to find, assert, or salvage their identities.
These fifteen stories center around the experience of being underemployed—whether by circumstance, class, gender, race, or other prevailing factors—and the toll this takes on an individual. Wimmer pushes the boundaries of reality, creating stories that are funny, fantastic, and at times terrifying.
Her characters undergo feats of endurance, heartbreak, and loneliness, all while trying to succeed in a world that so often undervalues them. From a young marine biologist suffering from imposter syndrome and a haunting to a bingo caller facing another brutal snowstorm and a creature that may or not be an angel, Wimmer’s characters are all confronting an oppressive universe that seemingly operates against them or is, at best, indifferent to them. These stories reflect on the difficulties of modern-day survival and remind us that piecing together a life demands both hope and resilience.
"This gleefully subversive debut presents 15 weird, wild, and wonderful stories of everyday folks surviving in a world gone haywire." —People Magazine
"Wimmer’s innovative and darkly humorous debut collection employs emergency situations and fantastical elements as the protagonists struggle to make a living with low-paying jobs. . . . When Mary Ellen, who had a mastectomy, discovers her breast has regrown, the narrator’s understated reaction perfectly sums up the mood of Wimmer’s characters: 'We had confirmation that something weird was happening.' Throughout, Wimmer makes the most of strange situations." —Publishers Weekly
"An intriguing, wide-ranging story collection with a hint of magic." —Kirkus Reviews, starred
". . .the stories in Entry Level are fundamentally fun to read, and the book is a promising debut for a gifted writer." —Las Vegas Review of Books
"Wendy Wimmer’s new collection, Entry Level, embraces all these sticky, visceral questions with tenderness, heart, and a good deal of humor. It’s work that refuses to take the body out of things." —Kristen Arnett, Electric Literature
"The stories in Entry Level are propulsive, funny, delightfully unpredictable, and utterly addictive." —Dan Chaon, author of Sleepwalk
"If punchy first sentences are to your taste, Wendy Wimmer’s Entry Level is the book for you." —The Washington Post
"Wimmer writes with an intimacy and immediacy that take you down a fresh rabbit hole from the first line, each time. Each tale is as smart, exquisite, and surprising as the next. I really didn’t want this collection to end!" —Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies