Ask Me About the Money

A collection of stories that tracks everyday moments, decisions, and complications with money. A father-and-son duo investigate a bad check. A husband and wife drive thirty miles to use a free beer coupon. One character, living in a motel, is offered unsavory work opportunities. With profound empathy, searing details, and propulsive scenes, these stories introduce situations at once simple and profound, strange and familiar—lives upturned because of a misstep, a miscalculation, or a blatant act. Money takes center stage, but these stories include a host of other themes: family and relationships, Midwestern woes, and racial identity. From railroad tracks, to cheap motels, from garage sales to cow pastures, Keith Pilapil Lesmeister tunes our hearts to the powerful frequency of money.

“Deeply felt, generous, big hearted stories by one of the most exciting and talented short story writers out there.” —Andrew Porter, author of The Imagined Life

“I felt this book deep in my Midwestern bones, and saw myself—and the people and places and landscapes I love—in these pages. I loved this book, and will be thinking about it—and teaching it, and passing it along—for years to come.” —Melissa Faliveno, author of Hemlock

 

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Praise for Ask Me About the Money

“Keith Pilapil Lesmeister has long been one of my favorite short story writers, and the stories in his remarkable new collection will show you exactly why. These are gorgeously drawn tales of characters struggling to find their place in the world and often seeking out financial solutions to problems that cannot be solved with money. Here we see all of Lesmeister’s prodigious gifts on full display but most notably his extraordinary empathy for the characters he writers about. These are deeply felt, generous, big hearted stories by one of the most exciting and talented short story writers out there.”

—Andrew Porter, author of The Imagined Life and The Disappeared

“A tense, harrowing, beautiful collection. Keith Pilapil Lesmeister’s Ask Me About the Money kept me on edge and reading into the night. Iowa is the main character, and though I’ve never set foot in the state, I feel like I know it intimately. There are stories in this collection that I’ll reread, recommend to friends, and teach my students.”

–Mary Miller, author of Biloxi and Always Happy Hour

“Keith Pilapil Lesmeister’s Ask Me About the Money is more than the struggle for dollars. It’s bigger-than-life characters and the mysterious gravity that draws them together. In each of these propulsive stories, Lesmeister captures the intricacies of relationships infused with gruffness, menace, and unwavering devotion. And amidst the struggles—and defeats—are moments of fleeting epiphany, when the universe offers its wisdom and unignorable beauty.”

–Davin Malasarn, author of The Outer Country

Rarely have I seen the working-class Midwest rendered so beautifully, so complexly, so clearly as I do in Keith Pilapil Lesmeister’s Ask Me About the Money. I felt this book deep in my Midwestern bones, and saw myself—and the people and places and landscapes I love—in these pages. This is a book about survival—about trying to find a way out, and finding yourself at home exactly where you are. Here, hardscrabble Iowa is not just a character but a beating heart, a place as real and alive as the characters who reside there. Theirs are stories of struggle, but also of friendship, family, beauty, and love—told with tenderness and empathy, so full of heart I felt I knew them. I loved this book, and will be thinking about it—and teaching it, and passing it along—for years to come.

—Melissa Faliveno, author of Tomboyland and Hemlock