Order of Karen E. Bender Books
Karen E. Bender is an American author of women’s fiction novels. She grew up in Los Angeles, but has also lived in New York City and Iowa City, where she attended the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Her short story collection Refund was a Finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction and was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Story Prize. Karen enjoys cooking and running. Sometimes, she’ll even play cello at her local synagogue.
Karen E. Bender made her debut as a novelist in 2000 with the novel Like Normal People. Below is a list of Karen E. Bender’s books in order of when they were originally published:
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Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Like Normal People | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Town of Empty Rooms | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
| Anything for Money | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Refund | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The New Order | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| Choice | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| Ploughshares Spring 2005 Guest-Edited by Martin Espada | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Granta 91: Wish You Were Here | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| It's a Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Ploughshares Fall 2007 | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Astoria to Zion | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Goodbye to All That | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| 27 Views of Wilmington | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Love in the Time of Time's Up: A Short Fiction Anthology | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Note: Choice was edited with Nina de Gramont.
If You Like Karen E. Bender Books, You’ll Love…
- Adam Johnson
- Tania James
- Edith Pearlman
Karen E. Bender Synopsis: Like Normal People is a standalone novel by Karen E. Bender that was named a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Lena is 48 years old but still mentally stuck in childhood. Following Lena’s escape from her residential home with her troubled 12-year-old niece and her widowed mother’s search for them, Karen Bender moves deftly between past and present, through three entire lifetimes in a single day, as each character searches for love and acceptance in a world where normalcy is hard to find.