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Genres:

Podcast Episode

Broken In: A Novel in Stories

Fiction

Broken In: A Novel in Stories was a semifinalist for the Hidden River Arts 2020 Hawk Mountain Short Story Collection Award and a Finalist for Greece's 2021 Eyelands Book Award (Short Stories). The chapters are casual but carefully arranged spokes, radiating out from a rainy evening. At first glance it’s the story of an accident near JJ’s Bistro involving a drunk driver and some parked cars. With each chapter, the picture grows more complex. Each character faces the challenge of being broken in, one way or another…. Gabe is the mixed-race bartender with a sore heart. Lisa is about to confront the hyper-sexual reality of Bangkok. Rob died, because ambulance and police were all racing to the scene. A burglar schemes to steal Jeff’s sanity. A star chef knows it’s her fault that a man is dead. Jeremy should tell his wife he has an incurable disease. Sally mourns her missing children. What seemed so clear cut (a rainy night, bistro patrons, an accident) is an event with layers, and consequences, and after-effects. The circles will go on rippling long after the reader finishes the book.

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Jadi Campbell

Jadi Campbell

Jadi Campbell is a Best American Essays nominated author. She writes frequently for Stuttgart's NEAT: New English American Theater. Her books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. Tsunami Cowboys was longlisted for the 2019 Screen Craft Cinematic Book Award. Broken In: A Novel in Stories was a semifinalist for the 2020 Hawk Mountain Short Story Collection Award and Finalist for Greece’s international 2021 Eyelands Book Awards (Short Stories). The Trail Back Out was the 2023 San Francisco Book Festival Winner for General Fiction, 2020 Best Book Award Finalist for Fiction Anthologies by the American Book Fest, recipient of a 2021 Wishing Shelf Book Awards Red Ribbon Award, and Independent Author Network 2021 IAN Book of the Year Award Finalist (Short Story Collection). The title story, The Trail Back Out, was longlisted for the 2021 Screen Craft Cinematic Short Story Award. Her newest novel The Taste of Your Name was a finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Prize. She blogs about the arts and our world.
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