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SATURN

10 year anniversary edition available now from Long Day Press.

The cult classic collection of David Bowie stories returns to print, with new stories.

My second novel, String Follow, was published by MCD/FSG on February 1, 2022.

Available from MCD/FSG, Bookshop.org, your local independent bookstore, or your local library. Add/rate it on Goodreads.

String Follow is a work of evil genius that put me in a literal trance and didn’t relinquish me until the final page. Like the irresistibly wise, dark, and unfathomable force it conjures, the voice got in my head and tainted my soul. I loved every insidious second.”
—Mona Awad, author of All’s Well and Bunny

String Follow is a horrific descent into the madness that alternately connects and isolates us. Simon Jacobs creates a world where the characters’ everyday terrors are taken advantage of by a larger force, a brilliant web of evil that stretches over an entire southern Ohio town. It’s a riveting and unstoppable journey.”
—Rachel Eve Moulton, author of Tinfoil Butterfly

”String Follow is a deliciously dark modern gothic that deftly mines the terrors and vicissitudes of the suburban teenager. A small town in Ohio and, indeed, the reader are soon stalked by a mysterious dark force as it hunts for the perfect prey, but it is Simon Jacobs’s sly and simmering prose that is the most undeniable force, slipping under your skin to haunt you long after the last page.”
—Kira Jane Buxton, author of Hollow Kingdom

”The prose is intoxicating and hypnotic . . . and the characters, whether they make you cringe or break your heart or both, wind up being people you feel like you know.”
Chris Harding Thornton, author of Pickard County Atlas

”A terrifying glimpse into teen anomie and rootlessness . . . Grim, violent Midwestern gothic—hard to watch, hard to turn away from.”
—Kirkus

”A horrific take on coming of age.”
—Publishers Weekly

String Follow reads kind of like if the Ice Storm was a horror story. . . . Moody, quirky, and funny, this is the perfect possession story for the social media age.”
Molly Odintz, CrimeReads, Best Horror Fiction of 2022

Press:

My short fiction collection, Masterworks, was published by Instar Books in August 2019. Order it directly from the publisher or at your local independent bookstore!

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Available from Instar Books (20% off!), Small Press Distribution, or your local indie.

Press:

  • add/rate it on Goodreads.

  • listen to the opening story, “Let Me Take You to Olive Garden,” and an interview, at The Other Stories. [9.19]

  • review by Tobias Carroll in Vol. 1 Brooklyn. [11.19]

  • review by Ian Mond in Locus Magazine. [10.19]

  • review by Amanda Krupman at Gertrude Press.

  • review by Brook Shelley at dill & fennel. [9.19]

  • review by Mark Andresen at The Pan Review. [9.19]

* A Small Press Distribution Fiction Bestseller! *

"Masterworks is an absolute weird original. It’s a frantic, funny tumbling of culture into the abyss—or maybe just a catastrophic date in an Olive Garden. Either way, read it at your peril and pleasure.”
—Amber Sparks, author of The Unfinished World and Other Stories

"Simon Jacobs writes like he’s grabbing your hand and pulling you fast through a crowd. You’re laughing and gulping and thrilled. These stories are both told and inhabited, ripe for revisiting, because even as Jacobs is moving you, you yearn to linger.”
—Lindsay Hunter, author of Eat Only When You’re Hungry

”Jacobs’ sly, whip-smart stories take you to the uncanniest of places—to an anomaly in Olive Garden, to a plank at sea, to the pleasure-scapes of Heironymous Bosch. Here you’ll find all of the daring, curious and soul-baring ways humans love and seek meaning. Masterworks is a masterful delight.”
—Hannah Pass, author of Our Reincarnated

My first novel, Palaces, was published by Two Dollar Radio in January 2018. Order it directly from the publisher or visit your favorite independent bookstore.

Booksellers, critics, librarians, and others can request copies from Two Dollar Radio here.

Press:

"Jacobs’s terrifying debut novel is a master class in anxiety and atmosphere."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Palaces is robust, both current and clairvoyant, and answers the question of what happens when our deepest fantasies become reality. With a pitch-perfect portrayal of the punk scene and idiosyncratic, meaty characters, this is a wonderful novel that takes no prisoners."
—Foreword Reviews (starred review)

"In Simon Jacobs’ tense, unwinding novel Palaces, two midwestern punks wander an anarchic, eerily unpeopled landscape . . . Even as the narrator progresses farther north and away from his old life, the indeterminate noise and violence of a musty punk house pit are never far."
—Niina Pollari, Pitchfork

"Palaces utilizes aspects of speculative fiction and horror as its story unfolds, but its questions are thoroughly primal. . . . Whether he’s outlining a harrowing vision of a sparse tomorrow or providing a lived-in perspective on a small punk scene, Jacobs has unsettling questions on his mind, and the disorienting narrative of Palaces is the means by which he’s asking them."
—Tobias Carroll, Tor.com

"Palaces is post-apocalyptic, but stranger than that. It’s a novel that’s gritty, moving, and punk."
—Nate McNamara, Literary Hub

"If you’re looking for something a little more punk rock this spring, look no further... Surreal, strange, and drenched in mosh scenes, it’s a bit of a nailbiter, too."
—Sarah Rose Etter, Philadelphia Weekly

"A fierce fever dream paused at that worst moment before we wake up. A tightening loop of the tension of untying and retying ourselves down: to people, to place, to motive and motivation. Less a meditation than a persistent jab in the ribs, repeating patterns of distrust and surrender. Addictively disorienting."
—Jac Jemc, author of The Grip of It and My Only Wife

"In this singular debut novel that reads like a cross between Derek Jarman's Jubilee and an unsettling folk ballad, Jacobs narrates the journey of two Midwestern pilgrims, each striving for ascetic purity both in their possessions and in their emotional lives, as they silently war against the ostentation of the wealthy, the dread expectations of gender, maybe against object permanence itself. It feels like The Road, but with less faith in humanity, and this S. Jacobs is a literary talent to watch."
—Jeanne Thornton, author of The Dream of Doctor Bantam

A new edition of my first book, Saturn, a collection of David Bowie stories, is available now from Long Day Press.

Saturn front cover

2024 edition (Long Day Press)

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2014 edition (Spork Press)

SATURN was first published by Spork Press in 2014. Now, in 2024, it returns to print in a 10-year anniversary edition, featuring new stories.

“The stories in Saturn are inventive, playful, and meditative—Simon Jacobs orbits Bowie the icon in order to write Bowie as both the person and the imagined person, and to great effect. I'm very glad this book is back in print again.”
—Chelsea Hodson, author of Tonight I’m Someone Else

“I will forward one to DB.”
—Mark Adams, Bowienet

Order now from Long Day Press.

Selected press for previous editions:

Other Writing

FICTION:

OPINIONS ON BOOKS:

INTERVIEWS WITH ME:

INTERVIEWS WITH OTHERS:

And some longer-form conversations:

[In past incarnations, I created and ran the Safety Pin Review, edited flash fiction at Flywheel Magazine, and interviewed people for PANK.]

Long ago (age 19) I co-authored an erotic novella, but you can't buy that online anymore. Maybe if you say something nice.

 

Events

2022

February 24, 2022, 7pm EST (virtual)
@ Literati Bookstore
Ann Arbor, MI
At Home with Literati: Simon Jacobs with Eugene Lim
Virtual event

February 16, 2022, 7pm EST (virtual)
@ Two Dollar Radio Headquarters
Columbus, OH
Simon Jacobs in Conversation with Jeff Jackson
Register for the virtual event.

February 1, 2022, 5pm OR / 8pm NY (virtual)
@ Powell’s Books
Portland, OR
String Follow Book Launch: Simon Jacobs in Conversation with Mona Awad
Virtual event - recording via Youtube.

2019

December 9, 2019, 8pm
@ Franklin Park
Brooklyn, NY
Franklin Park Reading Series
with Rion Amilcar Scott, Jennifer Baker, Ryan Chapman, and Addie Tsai
Facebook event

November 21, 2019, 7:30pm
@ Tattooed Mom
Philadelphia, PA
Tire Fire Reading Series
with Ron Austin, Malka Older, and Tyler Mendelsohn
Facebook event

October 7, 2019, 7pm
@ Bluestockings
New York, NY
Book launch for Masterworks
with Eugene Lim, Miracle Jones, Casey Plett, and Jeanne Thornton
Event

August 14, 2019
@ Hinterlands Bar
New York, NY
Ditmas Lit
with Audrey Olivero, Rax King, and Meher Manda

2018

September 16, 2018, 7pm
@ KGB Bar, NYC
Reading with Sara Batkie
Event

April 6, 2018, 5pm
@ Mission Creek Festival, Iowa City, IA
Lit Walk at Mission Creek 2018
@ RSVP (Round #1)
with Hanif Abdurraqib, Shy Watson, Amy Saul-Zerby, Steven Fletcher, and James D’Agostino.
Event / Facebook event

April 5, 2018, 7pm
@ Volumes Bookcafe, Chicago, IL
Reading with Lindsay Hunter, Alex Higley, Rachel Hyman, and Alexis Pope
Event / Facebook event

April 4, 2018, 7pm
@ Wells & Co. Custom Tattoo, Dayton, OH
Wells & Co. Presents Simon Jacobs and Cricketbows
with Cricketbows!
Facebook event

April 3, 2018, 7:30pm
@ Two Dollar Radio HQ, Columbus, OH
Reading and Discussion
Facebook event

April 2, 2018, 7pm
@ Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI
Reading and Discussion
Event / Facebook event

March 29, 2018, 4:30pm
@ Earlham College, EPIC Co-Lab, Richmond, IN
Reading and Discussion

February 23, 2018, 7:30pm
@ Babycastles, New York, NY
Unlit
with Jeanne Thornton, Sarah Bridgins, and a swarm of others.
Facebook event

February 15, 2018, 7pm
@ Gina's 45, Philadelphia, PA
Rare Jawn: Machado / Beilin / Winnette / Jacobs / Oka
with Carmen Maria Machado, Caren Beilin, Colin Winnette, and Cynthia Dewi Oka.
Facebook event

January 29, 2018, 6:30pm
@ Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street, 476 5th Avenue
New York, NY
Apocalyptic Visions - Dystopian Fiction:
Simon Jacobs in Conversation with Leni Zumas (Red Clocks) and Eugene Lim (Dear Cyborgs)
Event / Facebook event

January 20, 2018, 7pm
@ Bluestockings
New York, NY
Book Launch for Palaces
with Jeanne Thornton, Miracle Jones, and more!
Event / Facebook event


 

2017

August 24, 2017, 7pm
@ KGB Bar
New York, NY
Instar Books 3-Year Anniversary
with Todd Anderson, Miracle Jones, Allison Parrish, Jonathan Reiss, and Jeanne Thornton.
Event

January 29, 2017, 8pm
@ Manhattanville Coffee
New York, NY
The Shapes We Make With Our Bodies Fundraiser
Facebook event

2016

December 3, 2016, 7pm
@ Bluestockings
New York, NY
TJY Book(s) Tour: Dance on Yr Face
Facebook event

January 24, 2016, 4pm
@ Pineapple Reality
Brooklyn, NY
LINE & HOOK Book Release
Facebook event

2015

2April 11, 2015, 8pm
@ Public Functionary, MPLS
LIT + ART PARTY
hosted by Paper Darts & FSG Originals
Facebook event

April 8, 2015, 6pm
@ Dublin Underground, Iowa City, IA
Mission Creek Lit Crawl
hosted by Spork Press, Black Ocean, Third Man Books
Event page

 

About

Author photo: Jenn Byrne Creative

Simon Jacobs is from Dayton, Ohio, and lives in Portland, Oregon.

He is the author of the novels String Follow (MCD/FSG, 2022) and Palaces (Two Dollar Radio, 2018), and of two collections of short fiction: Masterworks (Instar Books, 2019), and Saturn (Long Day Press, 2024), a collection of David Bowie stories.

His other fiction has appeared in Tin HouseBlack Warrior ReviewJoyland, and Paper Darts.

Representation: Bill Clegg at The Clegg Agency

Email: jacobs852 [at] gmail [dot] com