Essay Collections (11/18/25)

From personal anecdotes about the chaos of your twenties to ruminations on love and relationships, take a peak into these writers’ lives with their upcoming essay collections!

DELUSIONS: Of Grandeur, of Romance, of Progress by Cazzie David
9781250357632 | 3/3/26

In DELUSIONS, Cazzie David offers a candid and hilarious exploration of everything from neuroses and romantic agonies to the relentless grip of social media, all through her signature voice—blunt, self-deprecating, and deeply relatable.

Beginning with her 29th birthday and ending with her 30th birthday, Cazzie reflects on the delusions that wasted her twenties and reckons with their consequences now that the specter of her thirties looms large. Touching on everything from the pressure to find the “right” partner to enduring unrequited love to navigating body dysmorphic spirals, Cazzie cuts through the noise, offering personal anecdotes, sharp cultural criticism, and witty, honest contemplations on the chaos of becoming an adult in the modern world.

NAMES AND FACES: A Graphic Memoir by Leise Hook
9781250845030 | 4/14/26

Who are you? What are you? And how does it feel to be you? Leise Hook was asked these intrusive questions so many times growing up that they haunted her like ghosts. Born to a Chinese mother and white American father, and growing up in Michigan, Tokyo, and Virginia, Leise Hook was never sure where she fit in. More white passing than her Chinese friends and family, but with the Mandarin skills of a native speaker, she was constantly exceeding some expectations while failing to meet others. From moving to Beijing, to dying her hair blonde, to exploring self portraiture, Hook struggles to figure out who she is and where she belongs.

In the vein of Cathy Park Hong and Gene Luen Yang, Hook’s graphic memoir-in-essays rendered via her signature, award-winning style, explores what it means to come of age as a mixed-race woman, forging a singular identity in a world intent on putting her into ill-fitting boxes.

INSPIRATION PORN by Ryan O’Connell
9781250376244 | 5/26/26

For years, Ryan O’Connell wished he was different. Raised in a small Southern California beach town described as “Laguna Beach with meth,” his dad had taken off for greener pastures, and his alcoholic mom packed him lunches that wouldn’t win any Top Chef: Quickfire challenges. On top of it, he had to be disabled and gay?! Luckily, Ryan always had a love for writing. There, he could “construct the narrative of my life before anyone can construct it for me.” In essays that range from the poignant to the side-splitting, Ryan takes us along as he grapples with addiction, navigates the early days of writing for online media in NYC, and uses his voice to gain entrance into the cutthroat world of Hollywood, where he becomes a sought-after writer and creator. In other essays he asks the very important question: “Are Straight People Okay?” (short answer is no), explores the battle between your IRL vs URL identity, and ruminates on the healing power of being gay and on vacation. Finally, Ryan opens up his committed relationship and becomes a slut for the first time, keeping a diary of his sexual misadventures, and bravely healing his soul through his hole.

In the tradition of writers like Samantha Irby and David Sedaris, INSPIRATION PORN is a candid and often raunchy look at a life lived without apologies.

I HAVE THIS THING FOR FLOWERS: Essays on the Roots of Relationships by Alysia Sawchyn
9781250397614 | 8/4/26

It begins with an ending. Six months before they were to be married, Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn’s fiancée broke off their engagement, leaving her stunned and reeling. Looking for stability—and health insurance—she married a friend instead. Then, while sharing a home and tending to a garden together, the marriage of convenience turned into a marriage of love.

In science, art, and mythology, we cannot help but to see flowers as metaphors for the fleeting nature of youth, vitality, and love. While it’s easy to casually admire something beautiful, it requires a closer look to appreciate the effort that produces that beauty. In I HAVE THIS THING FOR FLOWERS, Sawchyn does just that, likening the many flowers she has grown in her garden to a range of relationships and activities from motherhood to ex-boyfriends to Greek mythology.

Cataloguing all of the great romances of her life like an herbarium of flowers preserved from the garden, Sawchyn examines the kinds of love that can’t be explained.