by Michael Czyzniejewski

In I Will Love You For the Rest of My Life: Breakup Stories, Michael Czyzniejewski examines twenty-nine cases of human love at their most critical junctures, bearing witness to the absurdity of longing. An astronaut’s husband cheats while his wife is in space; a scallop opens a portal to another dimension; a man exploits his peanut allergy for kinky sex; a blind date turns into a bestial kidnapping. Self-doubt, unshakable distrust, unrequited longing, and the prospect of eternal loneliness haunt these romantics. The heart wants what it wants, but it doesn't always last forever.

PRAISE FOR I WILL LOVE YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE: BREAKUP STORIES:
"These sometimes sublime, sometimes raunchy slices of love lives coming apart [...] more closely resemble molecular gastronomy—a medium where a creation's parts are transformed through close attention and high pressure into something completely different."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Sharp and funny, with reach and heart, these stories serve as an exhibit of the many ways love can get the hell out."
—Amelia Gray, author of THREATS

"These stories are perfect gems: polished for clarity, cut with precision by an expert hand so that they throw off light and color. Czyzniejewski is a funny, smart writer, crafting characters and situations with abundant wit and heart. A brilliant and entertaining collection—and one I'll be returning to again and again."
—Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

"There are stories that get you in the heart, and then there are stories that punch you in the kidneys. These manage to do both."
—Rebecca Makkai, author of The Hundred-Year House

"There’s a strange and beautiful alchemy at work in these feverishly-funny and wicked shorts.  The plots boom-a-rang nearly to the edge of the atmosphere and it’s because of Czyzniejewski’s deep empathy for his characters that he brings us back, breathless and heart-struck.  It’s the crooked stick that makes the best nest.  You’ll love these stories for the rest of your life."
—Jason Ockert, author of Wasp Box

"Not since Donald Barthelme have I read such an original and confident writer. Czyzniejewski creates beautiful literary riddles by colliding the amusingly banal with the intensely personal, like crashing meteors that create explosions of the urbane, profane and surreal. You'll read these brief stories too quickly, then go back and keep finding more."
—Arthur Nersesian, author of Gladyss of the Hunt

ABOUT MICHAEL CZYZNIEJEWSKI:
Michael Czyzniejewski is the author of three collections of stories: Elephants in Our Bedroom (Dzanc Books, 2009), Chicago Stories: 40 Dramatic Fictions (Curbside Splendor, 2012). In 2010, he received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for his fiction. He is an assistant professor at Missouri State University and Managing Editor of Moon City Review. He lives in Springfield, Missouri, with his family.

PRESS:
Electric Literature

PUBLICATION DETAILS:
Pages: 152
ISBN: 978-1940430287
Publication Date: March 2015