Misfits - Harris, Mark Jonathan

"Misfits is a startling collection of short stories -- heartfelt, compassionate, full. of sentiment yet unsentimental." --Paul Wolansky, Film Professor, Co-writer of The Guide and Dovbush: Lord of Black Mountain -- How do you connect with others when you always feel out of place? Following a kaleidoscopic array of characters adrift in a precarious world, Misfits grapples with the challenges of contemporary life, including climate change, inequality, uncertainty, and pain. A depressed accountant stumbles on a teenage eco-terrorist in a parking garage; a middle-aged psychiatrist buys a drink for a seductive young artist during a flight delay; an out-of-work journalist recruits Chicano gangbangers to help a desperate tennis partner; a troubled biologist runs into J. Robert Oppenheimer in a Santa Fe hotel. These fraught encounters all have unexpected and startling consequences. Despite their differences in age, background, and circumstance, the characters in Misfits share a common sense of dislocation and alienation. They struggle to find a sense of belonging and connection, but ultimately discover unexpected sources of resilience and hope. With its evocative portrayal of Los Angeles as a microcosm of contemporary society, Misfits offers a compelling exploration of the human condition in an unpredictable and rapidly changing world.