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A National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree
Whiting Award Winner
PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist
Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction & The Story Prize

"Core captures a precious slice of what it is to be human. . . . She reaches moments of extraordinary grace." -The New York Times Book Review

"Pick up this book and prepare to face sublime recognition." -Rookie

"Full of dazzling insight and empathy." -Refinery 29

Refreshing, witty, and absolutely close to the heart, Core´s twenty stories, set in and around New York City, have an other-worldly quality along with a deep seriousness-even a moral seriousness. What we know of identity is smashed and in its place, true individuals emerge, each bristling with a unique sexuality, a belief-system all their own. Reminiscent of Jane Bowles, William Burroughs, and Colette, her writing glows with an authenticity that is intoxicating and rare.

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"Core´s stories have a voyeuristic quality, like peering through the windows of a groundfloor apartment as you walk by. . . . Core´s narrative voice has earned her comparisons to Mary Gaitskill, Jane Bowles and even William Burroughs, but these references don´t do justice to the intimacy and relative gentleness with which the author treats her group of modern, often millennial drifters. . . . Core captures a precious slice of what it is to be human. . . . She reaches moments of extraordinary grace."
-Alexandra Kleeman, The New York Times Book Review

"These distinct stories are flawless and strange at the same time. Core´s command of detail and nuance allows each of these stories to shimmer with just the lightest touch. . . . The writing is smart, profound, and sexy."
-Travel + Leisure, "The Best Books to Read on Vacation This Summer"

"This collection of short stories starts off tough, astute, and bleeding with emotional generosity. Within the first few pages, Leopoldine Core hits you with nuggets of poignant gold. Her stories embody little snippets of truth, one after the other. . . . Pick up this book and prepare to face sublime recognition."
-Emily Wood, Rookie

"Untenable awareness, following the sincere attempt at connection even as it fumbles away, drives many of the stories in When Watched. . . . One gets an otherworldly sensation from Core´s writing. . . . The characters that we watch in these stories we come to know deeply."
-Los Angeles Review of Books

"Core´s stories enact domestic dramas that read like miniature plays perceived through a keyhole. . . . Perched precariously on the knife blade of desire, where people toggle between love and hate, Core´s tales are never predictable."
-Anelise Chen, The Village Voice

"The genius of When Watched is the way its stories capture the dilation of desire-the way the twin impulses to make art and waste time circle back to essential concerns about living well with a small allotment of years."
-LitHub

"Leopoldine Core´s odd little stories are often two-handers that plumb the intimate space between two people. From lovers to sisters and friends, Core catches these people in the ´chubby minutes´ where we languish and think and do and be."
-Elle.com

"A gorgeous, poetic homage to downtown New York City and the eclectic, yearning characters that populate it. Tender, melancholy, and bold, Core´s stories are filled with prostitutes, addicts, fathers, friends, and lovers. Against a backdrop of city stoops, fire escapes, and strangers, Core´s characters fantasize about who they might be and whom they might love if they dared. In turns dreamy and dazed, hilarious and sharp, these stories have an undeniable lure, like a jaded city everyone wants to live in."
-Interview magazine

"Leopoldine Core´s stories filled a void I didn´t know was there. Selecting a favorite from her debut collection When Watched is an impossible task - each entertains, delights, and impresses. Her plots are meticulous, surprising, and her characters are fascinating: the kind of characters you´d want to get a phone call from, just for the chance to hear them speak."
-Claire Luchette, Electric Literature

"A striking debut collection of 19 short stories revolving around sexuality and city life. . . . Core is a master raconteur and organizes all of her tales around objects and places (most take place in a bedroom or in transit); she captures a quintessential New York cynicism-one punctuated with hopeless romanticism, stress, and hyperstimulation. But the cynicism also produces pure moments of bliss. . . . Entrancing, subtle, and tragically poetic, this collection is an important contribution to queer literature."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Leopoldine Core is the author that´s turning everybody´s heads. These stories set in NYC form an unforgettable work about sexuality, identity, and gender."
-Bustle

"Full of dazzling insight and empathy, each of the 19 stories

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