In this debut collection, named by Publishers Weekly one of the top-ten speculative fiction books of 2020, body-horror fairy tales and mid-apocalyptic Catholic cyberpunk, memory and myth, loss and age, become elements of queer fabulism. Bodily autonomy and transformation–how we hold some bodies as things of beauty and others worthy of contempt–the importance of negative emotions, unhealthy relationships, and bad situations amidst the staggering and urgent question of how build and nurture meaning, love, and safety in a larger world/society that might not be “fixable.”
“Jarboe’s outstanding debut collection demonstrates a flair for queer surrealism and an ear for lyrical prose.’ – Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Reading this book one discovers how the tools of speculative and fantasy fiction can be so essential to queer expression. In the end, Jarboe is able to honestly grapple with this world, as a great artist will, for what other mother do we have?” – Lambda Literary Review
“There is no greater joy in genre fiction than finding a book that attempts to tug the status quo toward something new, and Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel is one of those books. Julian K. Jarboe is exactly the voice we need in genre fiction.” – Locus Magazine
“This slim collection of only 222 pages draws on myth, fairy tale, apocalyptic visions of the future – capitalism and climate change gone further awry, and a necessary dose of dark humor.” – The Seattle Review of Books