{"product_id":"robots-and-other-people-copy","title":"Robots and Other People (Copy)","description":"\u003ch3\u003eBrooke Biaz\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInformation and Pricing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e978-1-64317-581-2\u003c\/span\u003e ($19.95, paperback); \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e978-1-64317-582-9\u003c\/span\u003e ($9.95, PDF); \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e978-1-64317-583-6 ($9.95, EPUB).\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e© 2026 by Parlor Press.\u003c\/span\u003e 178 pages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBookstores\u003c\/strong\u003e: Order by fax, mail, or phone. \u003ca href=\"..\/pages\/order-books-4\"\u003eSee our \"Sales and Ordering Page\" for details.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePreview \u003cem\u003eRobots and Other People\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pp-pdf-viewer\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cscript\u003e\n(function () {\n  \/\/ ---- CONFIG --------------------------------------------------------\n  var BASE = \"https:\/\/parlorculture.com\";       \/\/ Liquid Web domain serving the PDF.js folder\n  var PDF  = \"robots-and-other-people.pdf\";      \/\/ \u003e\u003e\u003e EDIT \u003c\u003c\u003c just the preview filename\n  var LOGO = \"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0050\/3028\/1251\/files\/logo_trans.png?v=1781219303\";\n\n  var VIEWER  = BASE + \"\/web\/viewer.html\";\n  var PDF_URL = BASE + \"\/previews\/\" + PDF;\n  \/\/ --------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n  var wrap = document.currentScript.previousElementSibling; \/\/ the .pp-pdf-viewer div above\n  var src  = VIEWER + \"?file=\" + encodeURIComponent(PDF_URL);\n\n  wrap.style.cssText = \"width:100%;max-width:920px;margin:0 auto;\";\n  wrap.innerHTML =\n    \/\/ Viewer box. aspect-ratio 4\/3 shows roughly the TOP HALF of a 6x9 cover.\n    \/\/   - to reveal MORE of the cover, raise the second number (e.g. 4 \/ 4)\n    \/\/   - to reveal LESS, lower it (e.g. 4 \/ 2.5)\n    '\u003cdiv style=\"position:relative;width:100%;aspect-ratio:4 \/ 3;min-height:300px;\"\u003e' +\n      '\u003ciframe class=\"pp-pdf-frame\" src=\"' + src + '\" loading=\"lazy\" ' +\n              'style=\"position:absolute;inset:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;' +\n              'border-radius:6px;box-shadow:0 1px 8px rgba(0,0,0,.18);background:#000;\" ' +\n              'allow=\"fullscreen\" allowfullscreen title=\"PDF preview\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e' +\n    '\u003c\/div\u003e' +\n    \/\/ Footer row: Parlor Press logo (left) + open-full-page button (right)\n    '\u003cdiv style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between;' +\n                'gap:.75rem;margin-top:.55rem;\"\u003e' +\n      '\u003cimg src=\"' + LOGO + '\" alt=\"Parlor Press\" style=\"height:26px;width:auto;opacity:.9;\"\u003e' +\n      '\u003cbutton class=\"pp-pdf-expand\" type=\"button\" ' +\n              'style=\"display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:.4rem;padding:.5rem .9rem;' +\n              'font:inherit;font-size:.9rem;cursor:pointer;border:1px solid #ccc;border-radius:5px;' +\n              'background:#f6f6f6;color:#222;\"\u003e\\u2197 Open full-page view\u003c\/button\u003e' +\n    '\u003c\/div\u003e';\n\n  \/\/ Open the preview full-page in a new tab. Works the same on desktop,\n  \/\/ Android, and iPhone; the visitor just closes\/switches the tab to return.\n  \/\/ (Prefer the browser's native PDF reader instead? open PDF_URL rather than src.)\n  var frame = wrap.querySelector(\".pp-pdf-frame\");\n  wrap.querySelector(\".pp-pdf-expand\").addEventListener(\"click\", function () {\n    window.open(src, \"_blank\", \"noopener\");\n  });\n})();\n\u003c\/script\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat People Are Saying\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“In Final Report: The Horizon,” in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eRobots and Other People\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e(Graeme Harper, writing as Brooke Biaz), our narrator tells us the horizon could be a place but might better be held within time. It is neither “the point” prior nor beyond. The authority our narrator claims and the simple veracity of the statement speaks to the multilayered beauty of this collection and the conundrum offered by these stories. Authoritative narrators (“Clock School,” “The Lost Story,” “Insects,” or “Robots” ), “we” (“Living with Cows”), and “I” narrators (“The Abyss,” “Underwater”), those reporting their father’s stories (“Kidnapping Elvis”) or detached but conveying others’ experience (“Quail Stories”) situate us in time—and then ask us to place ourselves in the past or what might be the present or an imagined but immediate future. We may not be sure where we are, but this artful work, thoughtfully playful and serious in use of facts and history and depiction of people and events, offers a metafictional clarion call— to listen and pay attention. If we focus only on the horizon—close but not clear—then we miss the chance to reach out in the dark, find the step, the pathway, then the iron gate, and pull it open, the same as The Abyss’ narrator does.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e—\u003cstrong\u003eCindy Shearer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAuthor of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eStay With Writing: Practices for Sustaining the Writer’s Work and Life\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAn abyss appears where once had been a front porch; a protest pops up as a Google Earth mapping van rolls down a neighborhood street; a child loses a story—such are the premises of Brooke Biaz’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eRobots and Other People\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, gambits that place the reader smack dab in the midst of contemporary life’s weird whelm. What follows are accounts and ruminations, summaries and satires, omens and enchantments that are equal parts Steve Martin, Ted Chiang, and Franz Kafka—strange yet humane, absurd but honest, sly while companionable, and always alive with poignant paradoxes, insights and ironies. Crack open this book, and lose yourself in its whirl—and find yourself again and again and again in its haunting, funhouse mirrors.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e—\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Theune\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRobert Harrington Professor of English, Illinois Wesleyan University\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003cimg style=\"margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px; float: right;\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0050\/3028\/1251\/files\/Graeme_Harper_Author_240x240.png?v=1780919825\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-c9c8e234-7fff-71da-8205-421a992f0afb\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGraeme Harper \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003ewriting as Brooke Biaz) is a fiction writer and Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, \u003cem\u003eNew Writing\u003c\/em\u003e (Taylor and Francis\/Routledge). He is Professor of Creative Writing and Dean of the Donna and Walt Young Honors College at Oakland University, Michigan. An honorary research and creative practice professor in Europe, Asia and the United States, he was a Commonwealth Scholar in Creative Writing and has been a writing fellow or faculty in Maine, Alabama, Texas and Michigan, as well as previously in Great Britain and in Australia. He was previously Chair of the Creative Writing Studies Organization (CWSO) and founding director of UK’s National Institute for Excellence in the Creative Industries. Inaugural Chair of Higher Education at the British National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE), he served as a senior review panelist for creative writing and literature at Britain’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and as a reviewer of creative projects at the European Commission. His awards include the National Book Council Award for New Fiction (Australia), the NSW Premier’s Writers’ Fellowship and awards from the British Academy, the Literature Board and Arts Council of England. Among previous books are \u003cem\u003eReleasing the Animals\u003c\/em\u003e (Parlor, 2023), \u003cem\u003eThe Japanese Cook\u003c\/em\u003e (Parlor, 2018), \u003cem\u003eMoon Dance\u003c\/em\u003e (Parlor, 2008), and \u003cem\u003eSmall Maps of the World \u003c\/em\u003e(Parlor, 2006).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Biaz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":42546653364259,"sku":"978-1-64317-581-2","price":159.0,"currency_code":"HKD","in_stock":true},{"title":"PDF","offer_id":42546653397027,"sku":"978-1-64317-582-9","price":80.0,"currency_code":"HKD","in_stock":true},{"title":"EPUB","offer_id":42546653429795,"sku":"978-1-64317-583-6","price":80.0,"currency_code":"HKD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0050\/3028\/1251\/files\/Robots.jpg?v=1771774920","url":"https:\/\/parlorpress.com\/en-hk\/products\/robots-and-other-people-copy","provider":"Parlor Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}