A Place in the World

Gaythwaite (Underburn) delves into the secret lives of his seemingly ordinary protagonists in this contemplative collection of 11 stories. The title entry follows a gay former hustler who fondly remembers a man he fell in love with, but betrayed and exploited. The narrator of “If Only You Knew” grapples with his similarities to his father, who abandoned the family when the narrator was a boy. In “Off the Grid,” Katie’s husband proudly returns to their suburban home after a fistfight, resurfacing her memories of her violent ex-boyfriend and his untimely death. Gaythwaite can be prone to repetition—“The Lost Object Exercise” also features a gay man whose hustling past has caught up with him, while the protagonist of “The Simple Part” recalls the sudden death of a former lover and withholds these thoughts from his current boyfriend. Still, these stories get a great deal of mileage from what goes unsaid, sidestepping melodrama and leaving the reader to consider the impact of the characters’ tumultuous pasts on their current lives. There’s much to admire in this well-crafted collection. Agent: Mitchell Waters, Brandt & Hochman. (Oct.)