How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster: A Novel

Winner of the 2025 Lammy Award for Bisexual Ficition

A dark and tender debut set against a writhing backdrop of postapocalyptic New York City.

Acid rainstorms have transformed New York City into a toxic wasteland, cutting its remaining citizens off from one another. In one apartment building, an unlikely family of humans and ghosts survives. Mira reels from a devastating breakup with her partner, Mal, whose whereabouts are unknown, while her mother is plagued by furious dreams and her grandfather, Grandpa Why, stakes his claims as a rambunctious ghost. Across the hall, the cockroach Shin, also a ghost. As the world around them worsens, each character must learn to redefine what it means to live, die, and love at the end of the world.

Muriel Leung is the prize-winning author of three poetry collections and teaches critical studies and creative writing at the California Institute of the Arts. She lives in Los Angeles, California.