The five stories in Rafael Frumkin's Bugsy feature characters on the fringes of society, those who begin to splinter at the edges or who are struggling to do their best in a world that tells them to be smaller, different, better--anything but what they are now. These are also stories of neurodiversity and the trials that those with autism face in a world that would rather "fix" them.
Frumkin (Confidence) writes with insight, vitality, and a rawness that makes these stories about difficult subject matter enjoyable to read. With gravitas--but also a fair share of cheekiness and humor--he explores queerness, difference, and stigmatization. The title story, for instance, revolves around a woman dealing with debilitating depression, striving to survive despite simply not wanting to. When Bugsy starts working on the set of a BDSM production, however, she enters a community that is different from any other she has ever encountered.
Meanwhile, "On the Inside" considers a mother whose husband struggles to understand their son living with autism. In the beautiful final line, the son observes, "It's snowing on all the people and it's snowing on me because I'm a person, too."
Rafael's dynamic and textured characterizations are a cornerstone of these stories, allowing readers to peel back layers in order to discover new aspects of the people who inhabit these worlds and, in the truest sense, inviting them to peel back their own layers as well. --Dominic Charles Howarth, book manager, Book + Bottle