Utter Goodness by Audrey Lee (2025, Farthest Heaven)

They Call Her That Horse

I love short story collections, though I rarely read them. So I was excited at the prospect of this book: thirteen stories by Audrey Lee, who has previously been published in Hobart, X.R.A.Y., and Apocalypse Confidential.

This is Farthest Heavens’ first foray into fiction, and my excitement was justified: it’s one of the most beautiful collections I’ve read in years.

Alongside its beautiful cover art, which calls to mind Edward Hopper, each story is written slightly differently, almost as if you’re reading a different book with every one. It’s wonderfully presented, just as I knew it would be.

I read this embarrassingly quickly, as each story was just the right length to leave me wanting ever so slightly more, a testament to Audrey’s storytelling prowess. This is a rainy-afternoon collection, a “just one more” book. Or, if you’re a greedy reader like me and not careful, something you’ll gorge in no time at all.

Short stories are notoriously difficult to write. Too short, or too surface-level, and the reader doesn’t quite settle in. Too long, and you risk losing readers unwilling to invest the time and commitment that a longer work demands.

With this in mind, the collection becomes even more impressive. There’s real intent behind the crafting of each vignette, and they linger long after you’re rewarded with the final sentence. To avoid spoilers, I will discuss them only in general terms.

These stories exist on the edge of absurdism. They are not funny in a conventional sense, but they contain extremely humorous moments. They are also odd without tipping into satire or outright weirdness.

The collection balances on a knife-edge between realism and absurdity, keeping you constantly guessing where you should be while reading.

The opener is cinematic in its imagery, and I could picture the dolled-up girls skittering down the street in my mind. The Swans is absolutely hilarious, with impeccable comic timing, as is Sandwich Exotica. The ending of Harvesting Bunnies gave me goosebumps. I was pulled in deeper and deeper by every story; I could have read another thirteen just as happily.

They’d also make an amazing Coen brothers–directed TV show: that same off-kilter yet classy energy. Audrey Lee’s stories deserve to be scored with strings.

The motifs of the book are subtle. Audrey clearly has a penchant for animals, and not a simplistic one. They are abundant and described wonderfully, yet often meet gristly fates for reasons of questionable purpose, whether for expensive designer handbags or at the hands of bovine-worshipping zealots in blue trucks.

Whether surrounded by luxury or mired in poverty, the characters of Utter Goodness aren’t quite where they belong.

Yet it isn’t depressing or nihilistic, even in its strange beauty.

One thing that really stood out was the extraordinarily sensory way the various women in the book are depicted.

I’m hesitant to use the F-word, but these are empowered, if conflicted, women who inhabit Audrey’s America: a more subtle form of femininity, one that hasn’t been hijacked or tainted by ideology, quieter though no less powerful.

“Americana” is an overused term, but this really is a portrait of a modern America that has begun to drift away from God. It’s restrained in its depictions of technology and digital malaise, and feels more like a J.D. Salinger story collection.

I found this refreshing, and it made me realise I’ve probably read too many “internet” novels and need some classics before my brain melts into a puddle of goo.

Overall Utter Goodness feels like experience transmogrified into parables, as if Audrey Lee has taken the sum of her parts and crafted something wholly new. She is a natural storyteller, and the world is richer for her having shared these stories with us.

A wonderful book to start the year, and I eagerly await whatever Audrey Lee has in store next.

Attain UTTER GOODNESS from FARTHEST HEAVEN, here.