In this collection of short stories, Ben Marcus
weaves a tapestry of words/worlds that transport you from
your seat to the sea (and strange lands) and back
Leaving the Sea: Stories (2014) by Ben Marcus Cover designed by Peter Mendelsund via Jacket Mechanical
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H
ere, one of the most inventive writers of the oft-maligned speculative fiction weaves an exceptional collection of stories that lays bare his talents subtly and in plain sight. In The Dark Arts, an American seeks remedy for his apparent allergy to himself, losing his girlfriend in the process.
In Rollingwood, a mother deserts her family for good, leaving the father to take care of their asthmatic infant son — all the while dismissed as insignificant by his ex-wife and co-workers.
In Watching Mysteries with My Mother, a son dreads his mother's inevitable passing and delays her death for as long as he stays by her side.
In the title story, written in one sentence à la Marcel Proust, we see the narrator's marriage and mental state fall apart, bringing him closer to ending his life.
But it’s not all grim and ghastly here throughout.
In the uproarious I Can Say Many Nice Things, a failed author conducting a creative writing workshop aboard a cruise ship flirts with the idea of having an affair.
We go from conventional to cutting-edge as the tales continue. We see characters struggle with grownup fears through unearthly terrains — living in a cave in complete darkness, reclaiming innocence, discovering love as an android, despising loyalty to a child, negotiating to bridge an office desk and a coffee cart as if through a throbbing wilderness...
In these exquisite dissections of defenselessness and defeat, the most profound convictions often come from the inanest and unlikeliest of dilemmas. Leaving the Sea embodies the designs of a one-of-a-kind wordsmith at his prime. 2
In these exquisite dissections of defenselessness and defeat, the most profound convictions often come from the inanest and unlikeliest of dilemmas. Leaving the Sea embodies the designs of a one-of-a-kind wordsmith at his prime. 
2