Mac Crane is the author of<\/em> I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself<\/a> and <\/em>A Sharp Endless Need<\/a>. Their newest book is <\/em>Perverts: Stories<\/a>, out July 7th from The Dial Press<\/em>. Below, they recommend short stories for perverts.<\/em><\/p>\n When I think about stories I\u2019d recommend for perverts, I think that they can, at their core, be about anything. That is, they don\u2019t have<\/em> to be sexual or transgressive, although they often are. To me, they have to be audacious and fearless; they have to be self-assured and big-hearted. They are unconcerned with what you think. They are fearless in their pursuit of emotional truths, an energy which is, admittedly, highly erotic.<\/p>\n The New Narrative movement embodies a sort of perversity that I am fond of. In the introduction to the anthology Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative 1977-1997<\/a><\/em> edited by Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian, the editors write of the movement: \u201cIt would be a writing prompted not by fiat nor consensus, nor by the totalizing suggestions of the MFA \u2018program era,\u2019 but by community; it would be unafraid of experiment, unafraid of kitsch, unafraid of sex and gossip and political debate.\u201d That is the energy that I am bringing to this recommendation list.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As a prominent member of the New Narrative Movement, Roy is a must-read. \u201cAgatha Letters,\u201d the first story in her latest, Honey Mine<\/a><\/em>, opens with the question: \u201cIs it all point of view? Pleasure, I mean\u2014the surprise in the dark. I suppose it\u2019s different for everyone.\u201d And then it shifts to third-person POV: \u201cTo Camille it felt empty and fresh, because she was.\u201d The story, which is experimental in nature, is erotic and insightful, tragic and unafraid. And I fuck with the POV shifts as they relate to distortion, truth, and how we craft stories about ourselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Gl\u00fcck is another foundational member of the New Narrative movement and one of my favorite authors of all time. Early in the story, Bob, the narrator, asks, \u201cWhat is the desire to penetrate? It takes shape as an empty shell.\u201d The story then proceeds to layer question on top of question on top of question\u2014about the nature of desire, the objects of our desire, trust, betrayal, and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Unusual Suspects<\/p>\n Sign up to Unusual Suspects to receive news and recommendations for mystery\/thriller readers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t![\"Honey](\"https:\/\/s2982.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Honey-Mine-300x0.jpg.webp\")
<\/a><\/div>\n\u201cAgatha Letters\u201d<\/a> by Camille Roy<\/h3>\n
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\u201cOn the Boardwalk\u201d<\/a> by Robert Gl\u00fcck<\/h3>\n