Every Kind of Wanting explores the complex intersection of three unique families and their bustling efforts to have a "Community Baby." Miguel could not be more different from his partner Chad, a happy-go-lucky real estate mogul from Chicago's wealthy North Shore. When Chad's sister, Gretchen offers the couple an egg, their search for a surrogate leads them to Miguel's old friend Emily, happily married to an eccentric Irish playwright, Nick, with whom she is raising two boys. Into this web falls Miguel's sister Lina, a former addict and stripper, who begins a passionate affair with Nick while deciphering the mysteries of her past. But every action these couples make has unforeseen consequences. As Lina faces her long-hidden demons, and the fragile friendships between Miguel and Chad and Nick and Emily begin to fray as the baby's birth draws near, a shocking turn of events-and the secret Lina's been hiding-threaten to break them apart forever. By turns funny, dark and sexy, Every Kind of Wanting strips bare the layers of the American family today. Tackling issues such as assimilation, the legacy of secrets, the morality of desire, and ultimately who "owns" love, the characters-across all ethnicities, nationalities, and sexualities-are blisteringly alive.

Nineteen vivid and compelling stories explore the often charged and tender relationship between a daughter and her father. Includes such notable authors as Pam Houston, Sandra Cisneros, Aimee Bender, Antonya Nelson, Bliss Broyard, Heather Sellers, Steve Almond, Peter Ho Davies, Dan Chaon and others, along with exciting new discoveries. Guest editor Gina Frangello of the award-winning Other Voices magazine, with foreword by Elissa Schappell of Tin House and Vanity Fair. With its universal family theme, Falling Backwards: Stories of Fathers and Daughters is sure to meet a big reception, reaching out from its literary origins to embrace a broad readership with these beautiful and challenging stories.

From D. H. Lawrence to Philip Roth, acclaimed male writers have depicted sex from the perspective of female characters. Now, women writers from Aimee Bender to Jennifer Egan engage in provocative fictional cross-dressing, exploring sexuality from the male point of view. With a foreword by Steve Almond, this provocative collection includes work from twenty-six women in all, including Bender, Egan, Susan Minot, Elizabeth Benedict, Alicia Erian, and Diane Williams. Edited by Gina Frangello, Stacy Bierlein, Cris Mazza and Kat Meads--four women with a great deal of experience as editors ("Other Voices Magazine," OV Books, anthologies) and authors.