Books

The Municipalists

The Municipalists is full of subcultures and obsessions, a novel full of people who care deeply about the details, written by someone who understands that the details are what matter. Smart, engaging, poignant and funny (not just book funny—actually funny). Fried is one of the most exciting new voices in fiction, and his debut novel showcases his many talents.”

—CHARLES YU, author of INTERIOR CHINATOWN

A new and irreverent take on both real-world politics and sci-fi history.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“The longer you bask in the glow of Seth Fried’s wondrous novel, big concepts like Technology and Work and Friendship begin to take on a curious shape, turn into something so unique that you wonder how one writer has so much imagination, so much insight, so much fun with the world they’ve created. The Municipalists is the work of a hilarious and empathetic talent.”

—KEVIN WILSON, author of THE FAMILY FANG

“A thinking person’s comic thriller, The Municipalists is a joy ride and a meditation both. Seth Fried is the consummate urban planner of a novelist, providing us with exciting thoroughfares of action as well as quiet gardens of feeling. And the story stars, among other characters, a drunk and vain (but ultimately loveable) computer. What else could a fiction dweller ask for? A wonderful debut novel.”

 —SAM LIPSYTE, author of THE ASK

“If you’re a fan of Jane Jacobs, but can’t help but hiss and boo whenever Robert Moses’ name is mentioned, this is a must-read. Then again, even if you’ve never spent one day in a city, but are just someone who wants to laugh and marvel at Fried’s imagination and wit, this book is also for you. Really, it’s for everyone.”

 NYLON


The Great Frustration

“Seth Fried is a pure delight to read—his stories are like parables from some alternate sci-fi Bible, funny and wise and generous, deeply strange and even more deeply familiar.”

—KAREN RUSSELL, author of SWAMPLANDIA!

“Certainly one of the most original and startling short story collections of the year. In most cases, Fried sets the tone from the get-go: “Last year, the people in charge of the picnic blew us up,” (from “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre); “To begin with, I am a man,” (from “Life in the Harem”). Fried’s settings travel the globe and leap across timelines (including mythical ones, like the garden of Eden in the title story) with such dazzling skill that the reader simply surrenders to these highly-entertaining and thought-provoking stories.”

—NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE, “SMALL PRESS HIGHLIGHTS OF 2011”

“Seth Fried’s stories are laugh-out-loud hilarious and wonderfully weird, yet his many strange worlds also have the power to haunt, echoing the sorrows and yearnings of ordinary life in the way dreams can.”

—DAN CHAON, author of AWAIT YOUR REPLY

“He’s channeling Saunders by way of Barthelme and Kafka, but also clearing a whole new territory of his own. Listen up and open this book: Seth Fried is the future of fiction.”

—HANNAH TINTI, author of THE GOOD THIEF

“Even if you wanted to stop reading, you couldn't: his sentences drive you forward with a relentless rhythm, breaking your heart, then reassembling it, then breaking it again, and you don’t even mind, because he’s also making you laugh out loud.”

—CHARLES YU, author of HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE


Humor Writing

For These Reasons, You’ve Been Chopped. 251, June 2021

A Few Options For My Tombstone. 251, January 2021

Hello My Name Is Inigo Montoya and, If I'm Being Completely Honest, My Father's Death Was at Least Partly Due to Prolonged Exposure to Dangerous Sword-Making Fumes. Points in Case, November 2020

Welcome to Blood Fystyvyl: A Transformative Weekend of Music and Luxury Blood Tests on a Remote Island Once Owned by Robert Blake. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, April 2019

Trump University Valedictorian Speech Class of 2009. The New Yorker’s “Shouts and Murmurs,” December 2016

Make America Grape Again. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, July 2016

Manhattan in 11031 A.D. The New Yorker’s “Shouts and Murmurs,” June 2015

The Bear at the Front Door. Tin House, May 2014

Notifications. The New Yorker’s “Shouts and Murmurs,“ June 2013

Some Rich White Male Writers You May Have Missed. Tin House, June 2013

Murder Your Darlings. Tin House, April 2013

How To Interpret Your Rejection Letters. Tin House, February 2013

The New England Journal of Medicine offers user “Josh95” a chance to revise his comment on their blog. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, January 2013

Books To Buy Your Pet This Holiday Season. Tin House, December 2012

How to Apply to an MFA Program. Tin House, October 2012

5 1/2 Writers Under 11. Tin House, August 2012

How to Write Erotic Fiction. Tin House, July 2012

Please Read: Important Procedure Change for Contacting the I.T. Department. The New Yorker’s “Shouts and Murmurs,” May 2012

The Importance of Being Affected. Tin House, April 2012

Why Do We Hate Short Stories? Tin House, March 2012


Short Stories

Trezzo, The Missouri Review, 43:1, Spring 2020

Mendelssohn, Tin House, 74, Winter 2017

The Helpmeet, Tin House, 69, Fall 2016

The Metamorphosis, performed by Jennifer Mudge. NPR’s “Selected Shorts,” October 2015 

The Frenchman, performed by Tate Donovan. NPR’s “Selected Shorts,” April 2015 

Three Futures. Hayden’s Ferry Review, 54, Spring 2014

Hello Again. Tin House, 59, Spring 2014

The Evil Tyrant of Ten Kurk. The Missouri Review, 36:4, Winter 2013

I Am My Favorite Person. Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, 51, Summer 2013

The Frenchman. Barcelona Review, 76, Summer 2012

The Adventure of the Space Traveler. Electric Literature, June 2012

The Adventure of the Computer Program, performed by Santino Fontana. NPR’s “Selected Shorts,” February 2012

On Light. TinHouse.com, November 2011

The Great Frustration. 52 Stories, May 2011

Animalcula: A Young Scientist’s Guide to New Creatures. (excerpt) The Kenyon Review, Spring 2011

Life in the Harem. Tin House, 43, Spring 2010

Animalcula: A Young Scientist’s Guide to New Creatures. (excerpt) Ninth Letter, 6:1, Spring 2009

Those of Us in Plaid. McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern/The San Francisco Panorama, 33, Winter 2009

The Misery of the Conquistador. StoryQuarterly, 43, Fall 2009

Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre. One Story, 124, Fall 2009

Intelligence. Vice Magazine, 15:12, Winter 2008

Loeka Discovered. The Missouri Review, 31:4,Winter 2008

Crimes of the Century. Redivider, 5:2, Spring 2008

A Tongue. Sonora Review, 53, Spring 2008

How to Kiss a Laughing Woman. Florida Review, 33:1, Spring 2008

The Wager. New Orleans Review, 31:2, Winter 2006

The Siege. The Missouri Review, 29:4, Winter 2006

Logic Puzzle #232: The Descending Bicycle. Ninth Letter, 6:1, Fall 2006

Lie Down and Die. McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, 15, Spring 2005


ABout

Seth Fried is a fiction and humor writer. He is the author of the novel The Municipalists (Penguin Books) and the short story collection The Great Frustration (Soft Skull Press). He is a recurring contributor to The New Yorker’s “Shouts and Murmurs” and NPR’s “Selected Shorts.” His stories have appeared in Tin House, One Story, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, The Kenyon Review, Vice, and many others. He is also the winner of three Pushcart Prizes and the William Peden Prize. 

He is represented by Stacia Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency.