F*ckface

And Other Stories

By: Leah Hampton

Narrated by: Sophie Amoss

F*ckface is a brassy, bighearted debut collection of 12 short stories about rurality, corpses, honeybee collapse, and illicit sex in post-coal Appalachia.

The 12 stories in this knockout collection - some comedic, some tragic, many both at once - examine the interdependence between rural denizens and their environment.

A young girl, desperate for a way out of her small town, finds support in an unlikely place. A ranger working along the Blue Ridge Parkway realizes that the dark side of the job, the all-too-frequent discovery of dead bodies, has taken its toll on her. Haunted by his past, and his future, a tech sergeant reluctantly spends a night with his estranged parents before being deployed to Afghanistan. Nearing 50 and facing new medical problems, a woman wonders if her short stint at the local chemical plant is to blame. A woman takes her husband’s research partner on a day trip to her favorite place on earth, Dollywood, and briefly imagines a different life.

In the vein of Bonnie Jo Campbell and Lee Smith, Leah Hampton writes poignantly and honestly about a legendary place that’s rapidly changing. She takes us deep inside the lives of the women and men of Appalachia while navigating the realities of modern life with wit, bite, and heart.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

©2020 Leah Hampton (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Hampton writes about Appalachia with such sharpness, such clear-eyed compassion. These stories are deceptively simple - a firefighter’s marriage dissolves, a woman meets an old classmate, a beloved coworker quits - until they are not. These stories take you apart slowly, piece by piece, and by the time you realise what’s happening, it’s already too late. The stories are in your blood now. They live in you, with all their strangeness and decay, isolation and comfort, hellscapes and moments of grace.” (Rachel Heng, author of Suicide Club)

“In a voice firmly grounded and unwavering, Leah Hampton writes with an honesty and authority seldom realized so early in a career. These stories are fully matured, raising big questions, providing no easy answers, and leaving us to linger for more. Hampton has staked her claim as a writer to watch and I for one will not turn away.” (David Joy, author of The Line That Held Us)

Excellent, amazing collection of short stories—listen to it now!

This is the best short story collection I've read in years--hand's down. I’ve even read it in paper format and listened to it, it’s so good! It's beautiful and amazing. There were stories that made me cry, and others that made me laugh. Some of them I did both in the same story. My favorite stories are "Parkway," and “Saint,” but I loved them all. The narrators/main characters are all strong women, voices not heard enough in literature set in Appalachia. There is also a theme of needing to save the place--the environment--from destruction, which is definitely something that runs through Appalachia, which is so often taken advantage of for coal or timber or other natural resources. I adore this collection. Hampton is a talented, incredible writer. I can't wait to see what else she writes!

Kingsolver, Post-apocalypse

If you like Barbara Kingsolver, this unfortunately-titled book of brilliant short stories will delight you, and then give you nightmares.

well done

The stories are well written and interesting, each stands well on its own, even if the narration at times can feel a little flat, and personally I didn't care for how the male characters voices sounded overall.

I was particularly moved by the story Saint, which has an interesting back and forth timeline, unlike other stories in the collection. For this one story I feel that the narrator delivered a particularly intense performance towards the end that enhanced the writing for me.