A fiercely honest exploration of the risks and rewards of contemporary relationships,Sex with Strangers embraces the dizzying power of attraction across the spectrum of sexuality and infatuation. In this fearless collection, lust and loneliness drive a diverse cast of queer and straight characters into sometimes precarious entanglements. Recognizing that any partner is unknowable on some level, Michael Lowenthal (Fiction, MFA Writing Faculty) stretches what it means to be with a stranger and to have to navigate happiness, loss, and regret. A newly ordained priest struggles with guilt and longing when he runs into his ex-girlfriend. A woman weighs the cost of protecting her daughter from a man they both adore. A teenage busboy has a jolting brush with a famous musician. A young man tries to salvage a long-distance relationship while caring for his mentor, an erotic writer dying of AIDS. 

In edgy, disquieting stories, Michael Lowenthal traces the paths that attraction and erotic encounters take, baffling and rueful as often as electrifying. This fraught and funny collection forces us to grapple with our own subconscious desires and question how well we can ever really know ourselves. 

Michael Lowenthal is the author of four novels:The Same Embrace, Avoidance, Charity Girl, andThe Paternity Test. He lives in Boston.