Because I Don't Know What You Mean and What You Don't
Josie Long
Available as Paperback, Hardback, eBook, Downloadable audio
4 April 2024
The frank and offbeat debut collection from award-winning comedian and broadcaster Josie Long
From a comic mastermind comes this brilliant collection of stories
Three teenagers believe they are witches.
A woman defaces a local billboard.
A bored landlord tries to influence his son’s best friend.
A cul-de-sac WhatsApp group discusses eggs at length.
A heavily pregnant woman finds a way to time travel and a girl discovers joy on a stolen bicycle …
Each tale paints a life in miniature and offers an escape chute from the mayhem of modern life.
“Josie Long’s first collection reveals a natural gift with a frank and poignant tale; teenage experience, community WhatsApp groups and broken family units are picked apart with a wry cynicism at the weirdness and cruelty of life … an approachable debut full of heart and hope”
observer
See more reviews
“Josie Long can REALLY write. Read these stories NOW”
Dawn French
“Her writing is miraculous. A dazzling debut”
Joanna Lumley
“Josie’s stories are like her comedy – beautifully observed, strange, good-hearted, unsettling and truly funny. Read them immediately”
A. L. Kennedy
“I loved this short story collection. Funny, poignant, daft, and occasionally even hilariously cynical”
Frankie Boyle
Josie Long
Josie Long is a writer and a stand-up comedian. She won the Best Newcomer award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been nominated three times for Best Show. She was born in Kent in 1982 and studied English at Oxford University. She currently lives in Glasgow.
josielong.com | @josielong