The stories in Bugsy & Other Stories tackle tough, cringy, heart-wrenching stories in a very real way. I will admit, the first story ("Bugsy") was a difficult start, but by the end ("The Last Show") I was rapt, putting aside other responsibilities so I could finish Flora's story.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster and Netgalley, for an advance ebook in exchange for a fair review.

I didn't connect with this as much as I have with his other stuff, but still a solid collection.

I was graciously given an e-ARC of Bugsy & Other Stories by Rafael Frumkin. This is my true and unprompted review:

While I personally enjoyed this collection of short stories, this is definitely not going to be for everybody. However, the raw reality of each character in each short story was beautiful (albeit sometimes painful) in its own way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this beautiful work of art.

This was an interesting short story collection. I feel like I really loved some and some thought were a little odd. But I had a good time overall. I think the titular story “Bugsy” was definitely my favorite.

The writing was immersive, but I often found myself wanting to feel more emotional attachment to the characters. Each piece was unique, both in its premise and representation. The story “On the Inside” was a masterpiece and so, so important. I look forward to diving further into this author’s works in the future.

*I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway

These are not, in my opinion, well-crafted short stories, and I feel like queer fiction has reached a point where we don't have to accept scraps. What really got to me, though, was the story in which Frumkin gave voice to both a nonverbal autistic child and that child's mother. This is personal for me, but also: I'm not sure that autistic people need Frumkin to speak for them. I say that I'm not sure precisely because I do not want to speak for autistic people.

What a fab, inventive, story collection. I really loved it all, though the first and last stories might have my heart most. I loved the narrator of the first (sorry, my library copy has already been returned, so can't recall the title--oh wait, that's the one in which Bugsy exists...so it might be called that...) and the last, which felt very Virginia Woolf in a 21st century delicious way. A little Dalloway, a little Lighthouse, a little the Waves, but (honestly, though I love Woolf) just a bit more coherent enough in how it zigzags through time and forms of consciousness that...in some ways I liked it better (I LOVE YOU FOREVER VIRGINIA WOOLF DON'T WORRY). Def recommend if you want some queer, innovative fiction in your life.