The Obama Inheritance

Winner, 2018 Anthony Award for Best Anthology

Winner, Bronze Medal, 2017 Indie Book Awards for Anthologies, Foreword Reviews

"Resistance takes many forms, particularly in the current political climate. Few methods of protest are as cheerfully strange and purposefully bizarre as THE OBAMA INHERITANCE." —The Washington Post

“It's a commonplace these days to say that real life has become so unpredictable that it outstrips anything anyone could dream up in fiction. I think I'm guilty of having made that banal observation a few times. But that was before I read The Obama Inheritance, a collection of 15 stories so sly, fresh and Bizarro World witty, they reaffirm the resiliency of the artistic imagination.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR Fresh Air

"Truth may be stranger than fiction, but why should the conspiracists have all the fun of creating fake narratives? ... Yet, running beneath the book’s mockery of conspiracy fanatics, the unspoken question that I raised earlier persists: Why are there so many outlandish conspiracy theories about the Obamas? The answer, I believe, can best be detected as this book’s authors do, through the lens of identity — and I’m not talking only about race.” —Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune

“Top 15 Recommended Fall reads!! . . . Still relevant.” —Newsweek

“Stories that are often humorous, always entertaining, and mostly non-political, and that make use of the more absurd conspiracies surrounding Barack Obama and his presidency.” —Mystery Scene Magazine

"There will no doubt be an abundance of interpretive, critical, but dryly academic books examining Barack Obama’s two-terms as President. Phillips’s story anthology stands a testament to how these same years inspired the artistic imagination. Regardless of your political views, THE OBAMA INHERITANCE belongs on the shelf of every reader who enjoys imaginative stories of the contemporary world.” —Bookgasm

"Surreal, silly and sometimes shocking, the stories in “The Obama Inheritance” succeed in delivering a heady mix of thoughtful satire.” —The Press Herald

“Some short story collections are eclectic. Some are ambitious. Some are utterly mad. This one is all three.” —San Francisco Book Review

"Fast-paced, humorous, twisty piece of noir pulp." Cascadia Subduction Zone Literary Review

“High-octane creativity at work. . . . Some of these stories are laugh-out-loud funny, while others are immensely disturbing simply because you know that somewhere, someone actually believes this ridiculousness for real.” —Manhattan Book Review
"Pulp fiction for the post-Obama era . . . Readers who enjoy political satire in its many varied forms will certainly enjoy this collection." —ALA Booklist

"Fifteen authors known for genre writing, many of color, take right wing tales and transform them into their own righteous pulp. ... Who thought being militant could be this fun?” —The Hard Word

“A fun read.” —Washington Independent Review of Books

“Writers take on the racist backlash against President Barack Obama in genres as diverse as spy thriller, noir mysteries and science fiction. ... Still relevant.” —Newsweek

“Intriguing theme anthology . . . Truly excellent.” —Publishers Weekly

“A mashup of genre fiction . . . imagines the consequences of white supremacist politics on American society.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Wildly inventive, and smarter than the entire GOP combined, The Obama Inheritance is rich with tales to keep a reader up late into the night. Look at this Murderer's Row of talent! You can't go wrong. On top of that this book is a hell of a lot of fun." —Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling