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Bomberville, Short fiction by Brett Biebel
144 pages, 2026, ISBN: 9781965412497
Bomberville's 45 very short fictions chronicle the death throes of Saint Barbara's, a small, liberal arts college in the Midwest. Its dying is absurd. Its dying is vibrant. Its dying is funny and tragic. A party house leaves the television on all year long. Professors create course assignments centered around shoplifting. Roommates eat praying mantises and try out for the role of Buddy Bomber, the school's famous mascot. In a campus novel you could call fragmented or deconstructed or cubist, Bomberville presents the higher education you've read about, the one you long to return to, and the one you'll have to see to believe.
“In this wry critique of higher education, Brett Biebel is clever, offbeat, and funny as hell. Set against the backdrop of a dying liberal arts college, the students of Saint Barbara’s search for connection and permanence amidst fleeting youth and crumbling traditions. Equal parts journal, historical record, and urban legend, these stories display a literary sleight of hand, making the strange feel familiar and the familiar profoundly new. Weaving deeply human truths into a comedic mix of campus raccoons, bizarre rituals, and a TV that’s been running nonstop for over two decades, this collection perfectly captures the existential boredom of campus life in small-town America. Sharp, satirical, and as distinctly Midwestern as a fried pork tenderloin, Bomberville is Biebel at his best." —Audra Kerr Brown, author of hush hush hush
"In Brett Biebel's brilliant new collection, Bomberville, each story reads like a tiny, private explosion. Biebel's stories about the history and hijinks of a fictional liberal arts college are rich in absurdity and pathos. These stories are reminiscent of Calvino's Cosmicomics, funny, strange, and occasionally shot through with a soul-piercing sadness. I love this very inventive book." —Andrew Bertaina, author of Ethan Hawke and Me
Bomberville is Brett Biebel's fourth book of fiction. He is also the author of A Mason & Dixon Companion, a reader's guide to Thomas Pynchon's standout 1997 novel. Biebel's short stories have been included in the annual Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction anthologies, as well as part of Wigleaf's "Top 50 Very Short Stories." He lives, writes, and teaches in Illinois.
Bomberville, Short fiction by Brett Biebel
144 pages, 2026, ISBN: 9781965412497
Bomberville's 45 very short fictions chronicle the death throes of Saint Barbara's, a small, liberal arts college in the Midwest. Its dying is absurd. Its dying is vibrant. Its dying is funny and tragic. A party house leaves the television on all year long. Professors create course assignments centered around shoplifting. Roommates eat praying mantises and try out for the role of Buddy Bomber, the school's famous mascot. In a campus novel you could call fragmented or deconstructed or cubist, Bomberville presents the higher education you've read about, the one you long to return to, and the one you'll have to see to believe.
“In this wry critique of higher education, Brett Biebel is clever, offbeat, and funny as hell. Set against the backdrop of a dying liberal arts college, the students of Saint Barbara’s search for connection and permanence amidst fleeting youth and crumbling traditions. Equal parts journal, historical record, and urban legend, these stories display a literary sleight of hand, making the strange feel familiar and the familiar profoundly new. Weaving deeply human truths into a comedic mix of campus raccoons, bizarre rituals, and a TV that’s been running nonstop for over two decades, this collection perfectly captures the existential boredom of campus life in small-town America. Sharp, satirical, and as distinctly Midwestern as a fried pork tenderloin, Bomberville is Biebel at his best." —Audra Kerr Brown, author of hush hush hush
"In Brett Biebel's brilliant new collection, Bomberville, each story reads like a tiny, private explosion. Biebel's stories about the history and hijinks of a fictional liberal arts college are rich in absurdity and pathos. These stories are reminiscent of Calvino's Cosmicomics, funny, strange, and occasionally shot through with a soul-piercing sadness. I love this very inventive book." —Andrew Bertaina, author of Ethan Hawke and Me
Bomberville is Brett Biebel's fourth book of fiction. He is also the author of A Mason & Dixon Companion, a reader's guide to Thomas Pynchon's standout 1997 novel. Biebel's short stories have been included in the annual Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction anthologies, as well as part of Wigleaf's "Top 50 Very Short Stories." He lives, writes, and teaches in Illinois.