A BETTER LOSER

 

October 2025 

Now available for pre-order from Roadside Press

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ISBN: 979-8-9996256-1-8

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In A Better Loser, Nathan Graziano’s new collection of linked short stories, his characters are losing their battles to preserve a dignity that continues to disappear in front of them. Whether facing romantic troubles, addiction, or struggling to rein in their passions, these characters will not allow their failures to define them—instead, they become “better losers.” Set in Southern New Hampshire, Graziano introduces readers to a cast that includes amateur magicians, struggling musicians, hirsute giants, runaway teens, restless small-town journalists, and frustrated couples. Now, twenty-three years after Frostbite, his debut short story collection, Graziano returns with another round of working-class tales that combine wry humor and a hard—and sometimes dark—look at the relationships that explain us.

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$18 Pre-order a signed copy here

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Other praise:

 

"Graziano is a master of that which startles yet succeeds the way nothing familiar can, as when he writes that the chicken fingers and fries in a kid's meal sit on her plate 'like dead relatives in lawn chairs.' But it's lines like 'Beautiful women kill me and now I'm dead' that make me stand tall, make me proud to be an American poet."

 

-David Kirby, author of The House on Boulevard St.

 

"If Keats is right about that whole truth and beauty thing, [Teaching Metaphors] is the most beautiful book about high school you'll ever read. Graziano's poems capture the experience of high school, especially the uneasy coexistence of the pain of being young and the pain of growing old, with clarity, grace, and heart. Teaching Metaphors is a powerful collection that should be read by anyone who has ever worked in or attended an American high school."

 

-Brendan Halpin, author of Donorboy

 

“After the Honeymoon is a fine addition to this young poet’s body of work. Simple thoughts, simply written, deeply felt meditations on everyday life, and the ability to write locally with universal themes; if Manchester ever is looking for an official city poet, I will be the first to nominate Graziano.”
                             

-The Hippo