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These are stories that ambush the reader with Elison's signature style: a drolly disturbing admixture of dry irony and simmering rage. 'El Huge' reveals how small-town, small-time teens can accomplish Big Ugly Things on their own. 'Big Girl' chronicles the media's fascination with the towering anxieties of a sixty-foot tall teen. 'The Pill', the collection's previously unpublished centerpiece, celebrates a 'miracle cure' for obesity that sends society to a grimly delightful new utopia. 'With Such People In It,' also new to readers, welcomes us to a brave new world where cowardice is a virtue. 'Gone with Gone With the Wind' is a nonfiction analysis of privilege, denial, literary classics, and personal honesty. 'Afterimage' is a one-way trip into a VR world that's more 'real' than our own. Also included is 'Guts', which is about just what its title suggests, as well this volume's characteristically frank and thought-provoking Outspoken Interview.