A collection of short stories about the extremes we often find ourselves in—sometimes of our own making. Each story uses the adverb "so" in its title, emphasizing the extreme function of the following adjectives (tired, snowy, long, alive, dense, rude…). McDowell uses fantasy, literary fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction genres to capture his explorations of the human experience.

• "So Dense" — An unusually dense fog—and a blind woman who seems to know more than climate scientists.


• "So Snowy" — Santa? Is that you?


• "So Humane" — The 'louison' was invented by the French as a humane method of execution…who went first?


• "So Quiet" — What if you came back from vacation unable to speak to certain people?

…and six more unusual and engaging stories by Markus McDowell.