The facts, put simply: Roxane Gay is one of our fiercest thinkers, most potent caller-outers, and most punchy prosemasters in a time when wow do we need it, more than ever. In Philly for a reading to promote Difficult Women, her new collection of short stories, a snippet of which we can excerpt here:

From "I Will Follow You" 
 

My sister decided we had to go see her estranged husband in Reno. When she told me, I was in a mood. I said, "What does that have to do with me?" 

Carolina married when she was nineteen. Darryl, her husband, was a decade older but he had a full head of hair and she thought that meant something. They lived with us for the first year. My mom called it getting on their feet but they spent most of their time in bed so I assumed getting on their feet was a euphemism for sex. When they finally moved out, Carolina and Darryl lived in a crappy apartment with pea green wallpaper and a balcony where the railing was loose like a rotting tooth. I’d visit them after my classes at the local university. Carolina usually wasn’t home from her volunteer job yet so I’d wait for her and watch television and drink warm beer while Darryl, who couldn’t seem to find work, stared at me, telling me I was a pretty girl. When I told my sister she laughed and shook her head. She said, "There’s not much you can do with men but he won’t mess with you, I promise."

Tickets and more info here.