Parsons's characters are sharp and uncannily observed, bound up in elastic and electrifying prose. Parsons is both unflinching and eloquent in her portrayals of people as they burn and rage.' -Lauren Kane, The Paris Review 'Parsons's debut crackles with the frenetic energy of the women who stalk its pages. Jackson, author of Survival Math, 'There is a reckless kind of heat to the tender, broken characters in these stories. Plus, she's a prime prose stylist, one whose language never dips below flat-out amazing.' -Mitchell S. These stories are at turns heartbreaking and hilarious keen and imaginative. Parsons sees right into the maw of the flawed humans that live in her worlds, which is to say, she spies the humanity in all of us. Contemptuous and empathetic, ill-mannered and sublime, Black Light is my favorite collection in years.' -Mark Doten, author of Trump Sky Alpha ' Black Light announces a remarkable talent. A luminous fever dream and a modern day classic.' -T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls 'Extraordinary, brutal, filled with wit and menace and charisma, Black Light stakes out a Texas by turns drably oppressive and shot through with ultra-HD colors. Kimberly King Parsons's debut captures a kind of truth that could pass for memory if it weren't so steeped in Parsons's voice and whirring imagination, piercing and singular.

In this collection, Parsons dissects the guts of the soul, to show us how awful we all are and how crushingly beautiful.' -Hannah Lillith Assadi, author of Sonora ' Black Light is a work of thunderous virtuosity.

Texas, dusty and sprawling, houses Parsons's pining, broken, twangy, and unforgettable characters. In her debut collection, Kimberly King Parsons has put it all on the line, with a hell of a payoff.' -Sam Lipsyte, author of Hark 'Kimberly King Parsons's Black Light is savage, celestial, and gorgeous.

These stories are funny and poignant and searching, full of taut poetry, not to mention the long pain and sharp joys of living and loving and lusting. I just finished this book, and I'm going to read it again right away.' -Amy Hempel, author of Sing to It 'The very fact that Black Light exists in the world makes everything feel a little less bleak. Parsons opens and ends stories brilliantly. I loved every moment of this book.' -Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties 'In lithe, lyrical prose à la Amy Hempel and Noy Holland, Parsons's short fiction parses the addictions and desires of Texan girls and women, and will break your heart even as it makes you laugh.' - O, The Oprah Magazine 'The bad-ass gals in these terrific stories are all attitude, and as funny and appealing in their imperfection and thwarted desire as you'll find in any fiction out there. 'The stories in Black Light are grimy and weird, surprising, utterly lush.

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