Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Thad Ziolkowski

Wichita

Cover: Wichita - Thad Ziolkowski

Thad Ziolkowski

Wichita

2012, pp. 256, Paperback
ISBN: 9781609450700
Region: United States
Available as ebook Available as ebook Available as ebook
£ 11.99
Where to buy Where to buy Where to buy

The book

Lewis Chopik has at last graduated from Columbia University. Having been dumped by his girlfriend and in flight from the pressures exerted by his ambitious professor father, Lewis returns to Wichita in search of respite at the home of his New-Ager mother, Abby. But when Abby picks Lewis up from the airport, she reveals that she’s starting a storm-chasing business and then passes Lewis a graduation gift of $5000 in cash, which turns out to be the proceeds of a feminist Ponzi scheme called The Birthday Party. Lewis soon learns that his mother is also indulging in a polyamorous lifestyle. One of her boyfriends, a chemist and professor of “futures studies,” lives in a tent in the yard and has a drug lab in the basement. Another unexpected arrival is Seth, Lewis’s charismatic yet troubling bipolar younger brother. Seth is back home to unveil the new tattoo emblazoned on his chest that reads: In Loving Memory of Seth Chopik. Things begin to resemble the land of Oz more than Wichita when Lewis, while minding Seth, joins Abby in the Flint Hills on a storm-chase with her first client.

The author

Thad Ziolkowski
Thad Ziolkowski is the author of Our Son the Arson, a collection of poems, and a memoir, On a Wave, which was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award in 2003. In 2008, he was awarded a fellowship from the John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. His essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Bookforum, Artforum, Travel & Leisure and Index. He directs the Writing Program at Pratt Institute. Wichita is his first novel.

Reviews

Books by region

  • Cover: Mass Mothering - Sarah Bruni

    Sarah Bruni

    Mass Mothering

    2026, pp. 255, £ 12.99
    A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the life-affirming virtue of testimony
  • Cover: Dominion - Addie E. Citchens

    Addie E. Citchens

    Dominion

    2026, pp. 208, £ 16.99
    A scorching drama full of secrets and sin
  • Cover: Culpability - Bruce Holsinger

    Bruce Holsinger

    Culpability

    2025, 621 min., £ 15.99
    A suspenseful family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence
  • Cover: Culpability - Bruce Holsinger

    Bruce Holsinger

    Culpability

    2025, pp. 368, £ 14.99
    A suspenseful family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence
  • Cover: The Imagined Life - Andrew Porter

    Andrew Porter

    The Imagined Life

    2025, pp. 288, £ 14.99
    A taut and elegiac novel that follows a man determined to uncover the truth about the father who vanished from his life
  • Cover: Delicious Foods - James Hannaham

    James Hannaham

    Delicious Foods

    2024, pp. 368, £ 14.99
    A moving story of freedom, perseverance, and survival.

More suggestions

  • Cover: Tatà - Valérie Perrin

    Valérie Perrin

    Tatà

    2026, pp. 592, £ 18.99
    The new novel by the international bestselling author of Fresh Water for Flowers
  • Cover: A Mask the Colour of the Sky - Basim Khandaqji

    Basim Khandaqji

    A Mask the Colour of the Sky

    2026, pp. 240, £ 14.99
    A novel of identity and resistance from one of Palestine’s most striking literary voices—written entirely from behind bars
  • Cover: Tangerinn - Emanuela Anechoum

    Emanuela Anechoum

    Tangerinn

    2026, pp. 256, £ 14.99
    The novel for a displaced generation
  • Cover: Mass Mothering - Sarah Bruni

    Sarah Bruni

    Mass Mothering

    2026, pp. 255, £ 12.99
    A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the life-affirming virtue of testimony
  • Cover: Madelaine Before The Dawn - Sandrine Collette

    Sandrine Collette

    Madelaine Before The Dawn

    2026, pp. 208, £ 12.99
    A spellbinding tale of female defiance and rage
  • Cover: Floodlines - Saleem Haddad

    Saleem Haddad

    Floodlines

    2026, pp. 350, £ 14.99
    A sweeping, multi-generational novel that traces the fractured bonds between three Iraqi-British sisters