by Jonathan Harper

Morris came to Manderlay Colony to write, to share his truth, and to finally create something literary. But on his last night in the quiet, storybook town—a place of gingerbread houses, bad memories, and creeping nightmares—a series of events leaves him stranded, with shrinking funds and no clear means of escape. Days blur into nights as the beer bottles pile up and the idyllic village grows increasingly claustrophobic, peopled by damaged souls and shady manipulators. When Morris confronts a man from his past, his sense of self begins to unravel.

Jonathan Harper’s You Don’t Belong Here is a tight, tense debut that blends dark humor, literary menace, and the creeping dread of a queer Kafka nightmare. This propulsive, grimly funny, and boozy novel lingers like a hangover and a bad memory you can’t shake.

You Don't Belong Here: A Novel

Name: You Don't Belong Here: A Novel
SKU: 9781590215852

SKU: 9781590215852

$20.00

Quantity

Paperback, 264 pages
Cover and interior design by Ryan Vance
"A strange, original, surprising book, like a queer Kafka novel set in a mountain resort town of gingerbread houses, bad memories, and nightmares. Jonathan Harper writes nimbly, observes well, and imagines wildly. This is a terrific first novel." - Christopher Bram, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of Lives of the Circus Animals

"With You Don't Belong Here, Jonathan Harper has written a tight, tense novel that grabs you and doesn't let go. His lead character, a writer ending his residency in an artists' colony, finds himself trapped in an idyllic village which becomes decidedly less idyllic as he's stranded by his own self-sabotage and the treachery and manipulation of a shady cast of characters. Jonathan Harper has a fine eye for the damaged people who populate this village and this book, and sprinkles in enough dark humor to break the tension and give the reader an opportunity to breathe." - Rob Byrnes, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of When the Stars Come Out

"You Don't Belong Here reads like a Cheever fever dream-grim, literary, and domestically harrowing. As far as narratives of alcohol go, Harper's book is a chilling revision of The Lost Weekend for a modern era." - L.A. Fields, Lambda Literary Award finalist and author of Homo Superiors

"A claustrophobic novel about destructive friends and destructive urges." - Kirkus Reviews

"Jonathan Harper's You Don't Belong Here blends the finely wrought horror of a top-tier episode of the Twilight Zone with the observational deftness of Mary Gaitskill. This is a propulsive debut that I absolutely couldn't put down-and the absolute shocker of an ending haunted me for days afterward. Through a tale that is equally terrifying and seductive, Harper captures the highly specific pain of a life unlived with an unflinching eye and a sharp humor. " - Laura Bogart, author of Don't You Know I Love You

"You Don't Belong Here is a booze-soaked bender of a novel, a hauntological examination of second chances, a restless past, and an unlived future that unfolds with all the melancholy and drama of a memory play turned recurring nightmare." - Robert Levy, author of The Glittering World

You Don't Belong Here: A Novel

Specs

Reviews

About the Author