jillian elisabetta ciaccia, thefictionist, has been making the mundane profound since 1982, when birthing contractions struck a young mother at high noon during a July day in Brooklyn, New York. The result was a short story writer whose precise word choice and obsession with the everyday has led to a series of literary portraits that underscore the beauty of, for example, digestion, breathing, urinating, walking and various human behaviors, internal and out, conscious and subconscious.


Four volumes of short stories, absurdities, peculiarities, Monstrosities and Curiosities are available through this site as a downloadable PDF or as a paperback, signed by thefictionist and bound by hand.

Both options are completely free of charge.



"Your book [absurdities] is extraordinary and inventive with so much to think about and read over, just as I knew it would be . . . Astonishing."

-- Susan Daitch, author of L.C., The Colorist, and Storytown



"[Your work] is very inspiring. I love the look and content of your new site. What you're doing is great."

-- August Highland, author and multimedia artist



"I've been reading absurdities and I've been taking a lot from it."

--Jose Luis Peixoto, author of the implaceable order of things



"[. . .] and the fact that you did everything by hand, the simplicity of the book itself was beautiful as well. i spent my morning in a stone tea house reading Monstrosities. it was a very well-spent morning."

--Rachel B., reader.