ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

The men in ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, Taylor García’s new short story collection, are in the midst of their own personal apocalypses as the real and artificial world decays around them. Struggling to find the future versions of themselves, the husbands, fathers, bachelors, lovers, influencers, and healers in these stories learn to stop fighting and start transforming.  As Mario's job is eliminated due to AI, he begins mixing with his polyamorous neighbors, while his wife falls for a chat bot, sending their marriage to the breaking point in the title story, Animal Husbandry. In “Journey to the Edge of the Earth,” TikTok-famous flat earther, Carl "Flat Manly" Bonifacio, realizes his theories are bogus and that he must shut down his platform, plus, cancel a fraught cruise to the so-called edge of the earth. Circus strong man and ladies man Dominic sustains a career-ending shoulder injury that forces him to rethink his life choices in this circus melodrama, "Circle of Death.” Inspired by Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid's Tale, what happens when men's bodies are legislated? “Medicine Box” is told in retrospect by an ayahuasca shaman's son far into the future.