City Lights From the Upside Down

“A dazzling collection of satisfying tales consistent in theme, dexterity, and impressive execution.” —Kirkus Reviews

Book description via Bookshop.org: In City Lights From the Upside Down, Alex Z. Salinas’ debut collection of short stories, the setting is mostly South Texas—and infrequently, outer space. Mothers dying or dead, brothers with a taste for revenge, bizarre coffee shop encounters, terrifying dreams, strange alien lights, embers of love blazing and cooling—in these stories, a lot happens, and sometimes not much at all. Through precise, raw, and often Christ-haunted language, Salinas builds up characters to bring them to their knees. This book: a roller coaster in the middle of the Texas desert. (Or is it just a mirage?)

Available for purchase here.

In the media

Author profile via San Antonio Express-News.

Inclusion in Nov. 8, 2021, Critical Notes via National Book Critics Circle.

Book review via Kirkus Reviews.