Stories are weird. I mean, really weird when they’re done right. If you’ve ever picked up the Get in Trouble book by Kelly Link, you already know that she doesn’t just write fiction; she builds these strange, elastic pocket universes where ghosts, superheroes, and iguanas coexist in ways that feel disturbingly normal.
It’s been over a decade since this collection hit the shelves, yet it remains a frequent flier on "best of" lists for a reason.
Link doesn’t do traditional. Honestly, if you’re looking for a straightforward A-to-B narrative where the protagonist learns a moral lesson and everyone goes home happy, you’re in the wrong place. This book is a fever dream. It’s a masterclass in what we call "slipstream" or "New Weird" fiction. Basically, it’s the literary equivalent of that feeling when you wake up from a dream and can’t quite shake the logic of it, even though you know it was impossible.
What Actually Happens in the Get in Trouble Book?
People ask what the book is "about," and that’s a hard question to answer because every story is its own ecosystem.
Take "The Summer People," for example. It’s about a girl named Fran who looks after a house for "the others." It sounds like a typical fantasy trope, but it’s handled with such a gritty, rural realism that it feels like a documentary about a kidnapping. Then you have "The Jinn’s Luck," which toys with the classic three-wishes trope but strips away the Disney polish.
The Get in Trouble book isn't interested in the spectacle of magic. It’s interested in the weight of it.
The Strange Case of "The Lesson"
One of the standout stories involves a wedding on an island. There’s a ghost. There’s a very weird baby. It’s awkward. Link captures the social anxiety of a destination wedding and then injects a supernatural element that makes the human interactions feel even more fraught. You’ve probably been to a wedding where you felt like an outsider, but have you been to one where the literal atmosphere seems to be conspiring against your sanity?
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That’s the Link specialty.
She takes the mundane—weddings, vacations, high school parties—and tilts the camera just enough to show the monsters under the bed. But the monsters aren't always scary. Sometimes they’re just... there. Part of the furniture.
Why Kelly Link’s Style Breaks All the Rules
Most writers are told to "show, don't tell." Link does both, but she does them in a way that feels like she's whispering a secret. Her prose is dense. It’s layered with brand names and pop culture references that ground the absurdity.
You’ll be reading about a life-sized animatronic doll that functions as a boyfriend, and she’ll mention a specific brand of soda or a TV show, and suddenly, the doll feels real. It’s a trick of the light.
- The sentences vary from short, punchy observations to long, winding descriptions that mimic a wandering mind.
- She uses "free indirect discourse," which is a fancy way of saying we get inside the characters' heads without the "he thought" or "she wondered" tags getting in the way.
- The endings aren't endings. They’re exits. You just walk out of the story and the door shuts behind you.
Critics like Parul Sehgal have noted that Link’s work feels "limitless." There is a sense that the world continues to exist after you stop reading. That’s rare. Usually, when a book ends, the lights go out. In the Get in Trouble book, the party is still going on in the next room, and you’re just the one who had to leave early.
The Influence on Modern Fantasy and Horror
You can see Link’s fingerprints everywhere now. Writers like Karen Russell or Carmen Maria Machado owe a debt to the ground Link broke with this collection. Before this, "genre fiction" (fantasy/sci-fi) and "literary fiction" lived in different neighborhoods. Link forced them to move in together.
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It’s not just about being "quirky." There’s a deep emotional resonance to these stories. "Valley of the Girls" is a great example—it deals with celebrity culture and the bizarre lengths people go to for proximity to power. It’s satirical, sure, but it’s also heartbreakingly lonely.
If you look at the 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalists, you’ll see this book listed. A collection of short stories about ghosts and superheroes almost winning the Pulitzer? That doesn't happen. It happened for Link because the craft is undeniable.
Debunking the "Too Weird" Myth
Some readers complain that the Get in Trouble book is confusing. I get it. If you’re used to a narrator holding your hand, you’re going to get lost.
But getting lost is the point.
The stories mimic the unpredictability of life. We don’t always get explanations for why things happen to us. We don’t always get a "happily ever after." Sometimes we just get a weird story to tell our friends later. Link captures that reality perfectly, even when she’s writing about a house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Actionable Takeaways for Readers and Writers
If you’re planning to dive into this book or if you’re a writer trying to learn from it, here is how to approach the experience:
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For Readers:
Don’t try to solve the stories like a puzzle. There is no "correct" interpretation of the ending of "Stone Animals" or "Secret Identity." Instead, focus on the atmosphere. Ask yourself how the story makes you feel rather than what it means. The logic is emotional, not procedural.
For Writers:
Study how Link uses specific details to anchor her weirdness. If you’re going to write about something impossible, you need to describe the carpet, the smell of the air, and the exact price of the coffee. The more mundane the details, the more believable the magic becomes. Also, notice how she handles dialogue. It’s rarely about the plot; it’s about the power dynamics between the people speaking.
Where to Start:
If the whole book feels daunting, start with "The Summer People." It’s perhaps the most accessible entry point. It establishes the "Link Vibe" perfectly: a blend of folk horror, teenage angst, and the crushing weight of responsibility.
The Get in Trouble book isn't just a collection of stories; it's a challenge to the reader to accept that the world is much bigger, stranger, and more dangerous than we usually admit. It’s about the trouble we get into when we go looking for something more than the everyday, and the trouble that finds us even when we’re staying perfectly still.
Pick up a copy. Let it mess with your head. It’s worth the confusion.
Next Steps to Deepen Your Understanding:
- Compare and Contrast: Read "The Specialist’s Hat" from her earlier collection alongside "The Lesson" to see how her treatment of hauntings has evolved from pure gothic to social satire.
- Explore the Pulitzer Context: Look up the other 2016 finalists (like The Sympathizer) to understand the literary landscape Link was disrupting when she was nominated.
- Analyze the "Slipstream" Genre: Research the term "slipstream fiction" as defined by Bruce Sterling to see how Link fits into the broader movement of writers blurring the lines between reality and the fantastic.