One day at work, a young newspaper reporter is suddenly struck with a mysterious pain in her hands that renders her unable to type. Kim initially believes the disorder—as she refers to it—will disappear quickly. But attempts at treatment fail and no medical professional seems able to diagnose her. Is it a problem of posture? Stress from work? Fear of nearby wildfires or a past trauma, perhaps connected to the tragic death of her maybe-a-hoarder mother many years ago? Though the disorder puts her job, her relationship, and her state of mind in jeopardy, Kim begins to feel a strange kinship to the pain, a desire to “obey” it—a sentiment affirmed by her naturalist boyfriend, who has plans of his own for an idyllic future. Will submitting to the pain enable Kim to transcend it, or will it further derail her from the life she intended to lead?
“A prescient and absurdist office drama that is equal parts hilarious and haunting. Reading this book felt like looking at melted glass.”—Rita Bullwinkel, author, Headshot
“The Extremities! is a peculiar and perfect novel. Eerie, maddening, and sometimes even funny, Kimmey’s novel is art for the fearful present, humming a note of dread that feels both hauntingly familiar and completely new.”—Lydia Kiesling, author, Mobility
“Samantha Kimmey’s The Extremities! is a slow-burn of a disaster novel where a local reporter navigates her anti-tech, anti-tourist, back-to-nature boyfriend, the increased fires in the dry and heavily forested area nearby, an undiagnosed nerve pain disorder that confounds all comers, a bizarre dictation program and the even more bizarre box that reads her thoughts, administered by her boyfriend’s friend Lee, whose rich landlords have begun to buy up more and more land; in fact, many shadowy figures seem to be buying up more and more land, the story becomes a short of Pynchonian conspiracy met by a person who, like every last one of us, is just not equipped to deal with that kind of shit. It is a story about the things we carry with us and the things that will bury us; it is about everyone asking us what we ask of the world and we simply cannot seem to find the words. You’ll get all the answers you were looking for. What happens next is up to you.”—Sasha Fletcher, author, Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World
