“Are we bad people who sometimes do good things, or good people who do bad things?”

As society struggles to reconcile the uncovering of past wrongs with simple human frailty, punishment and personal redemption, the stories in Without Expiration challenge us to consider the humanity of characters who are flawed and heartbroken and who do and suffer terrible things. Works from Without Expiration have been published in some of America’s best short fiction journals. From the tale of a devastated father hunting his daughter’s killer to that of a couple forced to confront the disintegration of their marriage anew each time the wife awakes from a persistent vegetative state, the short fictions in this anthology seek to obliterate any sense of righteous indignation and to question how any of us can make it unscathed through a life where our every mistake is without expiration.

Named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2020 and a finalist for the 2020 Eric Hoffer Award.

“Flawed, despondent characters show a surprising wit and humanity […] Hincy’s taut prose makes the entire collection a quick read but still fills the stories with indelible passages. […] The book strikes a chord with characters whose defects make them simultaneously believable and with descriptions of moments involving a loved one’s death, either its prolonged aftermath or its inevitability. […] Cynicism and cheekiness abound in brief but memorable stories.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Deft, poignant, and unflinching, this collection takes the short story form and turns it inside-out like yesterday's lost sock. Not to be missed.” — Charles Hood, winner of the Kenneth Patchen Prize for Experimental Fiction

Darren Eliker

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