An exhilarating debut story collection that, with comedic precision and compulsive irreverence, explores the most surreal and inadmissible fantasies of contemporary women.
A lonely woman’s intruder fantasy comes true, a middle school gym teachers awaits an email that is going to change her life, a Buddhist attempts to restore her ego by joining a support group for the prematurely enlightened, and a ghost baby desperately tries to will his parents to have sex. BAD THOUGHTS journeys inside the subterranean realm of a woman's psyche where her most feral instincts reign; revealing the horror and absurdity of living inside a mind.
Banal ruminations on how to sound normal on the phone, and where Danish people are from rub up against weighty, existential meditations like am I bad person? and what if I wasted my life? Alic conjures these thoughts with a voice that is instantly arresting, unexpectedly hilarious, and absolutely unforgettable.
Praise for Bad Thoughts
“I raced through this book, reveling in its dark wit and unexpected sexiness. It’s easy to see myself in Alic’s characters—dripping with directionless desire, aching for meaning and connection.”
—Leah Dieterich, author of Vanishing Twins
“The stories in Nada Alic’s Bad Thoughts will make you laugh in every paragraph, yet are so grounded in the foibles of human existence that they will also leave you feeling immensely wiser.
—Meredith Talusan, award-winning journalist and author of Fairest
“Nada Alic is one of the funniest writers I’ve read in a long time, but she also writes extremely well about the melancholic, detached, and disillusioned aspects of her characters.
—Chelsea Hodson, author of Tonight I’m Someone Else
"It isn’t easy to make this reader laugh, yet while reading Bad Thoughts, I found myself in the throes. Alic’s keen eye for detail and almost exalted portrayal of human suffering had me shook."
—Shy Watson for Southwest Review
“If you are human, and have private thoughts that make you feel wild, Alic’s words will make you feel at home on this planet.”
—Jedidiah Jenkins, New York Times bestselling author of To Shake the Sleeping Self
“Nada Alic’s Bad Thoughts is lit up with the perception, wit, and cunning of Miranda July and Sally Rooney.
—T. Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls
Notable Press
New York Times The Cut NYLON Document Journal The Creative Independent
New York Magazine Autre Magazine BOMB Magazine NYT Editors' Choice Pick
Book Trailers
based on the short story,
"Daddy's Girl"
based on the short story,
"A Free Woman"
based on the short story,
"The Intruder"
Past Events
LOS ANGELES
Tues, July 12 at 7pm
Skylight Books Launch Event
In conversation with Jedidiah Jenkins
Wed, July 13 at 7pm
Stories Books Launch Reading
Hosted by Aiden Arata
Ft. Readings by Nada Alic, Aiden Arata
Lizzie Rose, Madeline Cash, Moira O’Neill
Thurs, July 21 at 6pm-8pm
Des Pair Books Launch
Thurs, Aug 4 at 7pm
The Elysian Theater
A very special powerpoint performance
ft. comedic interpretations by Anna Seregina, Kyle Mizono, Adam Carpenter and Kelcey Ayer
Thurs, Aug 25th at 7pm
The Dresden
Hosting The Shimmering State Paperback release with Meredith Westgate
Thurs, Sept 8 at 7pm
The Aster
Hosting a screening of Walking & Talking +
A Reading with Women Under the Influence
Thurs, Oct 6 at 7pm
Hosting Tea Hacic-Vlahovic's "A Cigarette Lit Backwards" Book Launch
Wed, Nov 2 at 5 CST
Hosting Robert Perišić's "A Cat at the End of the World" Book Launch
VIRTUAL
Thurs, July 14 at 6pm ET/3pm PT
Hub City Writers Project South Carolina
In conversation with Margaret Meehan
Tues, July 19 7pm ET/4pm PT
Literati, Ann Arbor Michigan
In conversation with Kimberly Kim Parsons
NEW YORK
Thurs, July 28 Forever Magazine book launch
Hosted by Allie Rowbottom
Fri, July 29 Montez Press Radio x Quarterless Review
Reading