About, Above, Around: 50 Prepositions

Winner of The 2024 George Garrett Fiction Prize, selected by Kaveh Akbar

"We ought to say a feeling of and, a feeling of if, a feeling of but, and a feeling of by," William James writes. In About, Above, Around, fifty prepositions reveal the subtle syntax of our inner lives, offering a new yet ancient vocabulary for charting how feeling moves within and between and around us. Kaveh Akbar, selecting the collection for the George Garrett Prize, says: "About, Above, Around is thrillingly ambitious and deliciously readable, a remarkable vortex of place and mind and spirit illuminating how our lives are shaped, and how we're held within them. Mayer has given us one of the most dexterous, impressive books I've read in ages."

Author: Mark Mayer
Publisher: Trp: The University Press of Shsu
Published: 02/25/2026
Pages: 212
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.91h x 6.94w x 0.72d
ISBN: 9781680034400

About the Author

Mark Mayer's first book, Aerialists: Stories (Bloomsbury 2019) was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. His stories have been published in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review, Guernica, River Styx, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. He is an Assistant Professor of Fiction Writing at Skidmore College.