How It Ended

First edition. 8vo. Pp. [x], 196, [2]. Black cloth boards, lettered in red foil to spine; red endpapers. Silk place-marker bound in. True first edition, not published in the US until 2009, in an expanded form.

Collection of ten stories exploring the dark underbelly of the American dream. Previously published as follows: The Atlantic Monthly: "Smoke"; Esquire: "Reunion"; Granta: "The Business" and "Getting in Touch with Lonnie"; Playboy: "Con Doctor" and "How It Ended". "The Queen and I" was originally published in Spin and as a Bloomsbury Quid p/b original.

"I've published 20 or 25 stories in magazines over the years, and ultimately these were the only ones that I thought were durable. I'm not saying they're all of Joycean quality, but at least I feel confident that they're the best I've done." –Jay McInerney, The Observer (10/9/2000)