The Municipalists

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In Suitland, Maryland, just outside DC, there is a large gray building that is home to the United States Municipal Survey. The main building boasts over 2 million square feet of assignable space. It houses research laboratories and data centers where our technicians utilize fleets of aerial drones to monitor most US cities in real time. In our Traffic department, serious men and women use VR rigs to investigate congested roadways, while down the hall the folks in Weather are busy running hurricane-force winds over manhole covers to determine at what point they get sucked up and turn lethal, cast-iron Frisbees whistling with a thud into the reinforced glass. Nearby there's also the compound containing our supercomputer, OWEN, which ingests data from over two hundred satellites. Our headquarters is by all accounts an impressive facility, though my small office on the fifth floor is a bit more modest in scope.

There's just enough room for a desk, two chairs, and a narrow bookshelf of binders. I find it cozy, but the lack of space can occasionally exacerbate an awkward situation. Like when Agent Marcuzzi stomped in that morning, taking a seat across from me without a word.

I had asked him to stop by for a friendly meeting, but his attitude was so immediately hostile that at 7:00 a.m. I was already forced to wonder what sort of day it would be. He hunched forward in his seat, causing the shoulders of his blazer to bunch. His hands were folded in his lap and he was knocking his thumbs together like he was waiting for a bus he didn't want to get on.

He glanced at the model locomotive on my desk and I hoped for a moment he might smile. Next to my nameplate, I had placed a 1:64 scale model of an eight-axle C8 Manley & Wrexler. I had a reputation at the agency for being somewhat joyless and so I'd brought the model from home to liven up my workspace. It was from a series of collectibles called Trains of Yore, which depicted classic

Seth Fried is the author of the acclaimed short story collection The Great Frustration. He is a recurring contributor to The New Yorker's "Shouts and Murmurs" and NPR's "Selected Shorts," and his stories have appeared in Tin House, One Story, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, The Kenyon Review, Vice, and elsewhere. He is also the winner of two Pushcart Prizes and the William Peden Prize.

"Even if you ve never spent one day in a city, but are just someone who wants to laugh and marvel at Fried s imagination and wit, this book is also for you. Really, it s for everyone." NYLON, "50 Novels You'll Want to Read in 2019"

"A new and irreverent take on both real-world politics and sci-fi history." The Wall Street Journal

"A fresh and funny take on the near-future crime novel. And in these dystopian times we re living through, I d take fresh and funny over an added dose of doom and gloom on top of the hearty serving we eat every single day. I m terrified of the future, but Fried makes it a little more entertaining. " Jason Diamond, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

Fried s debut explores issues likely to affect everyone and pokes predatory capitalism with a sharp stick, attracting readers of darkly absurd science à la Philip K. Dick, Charlie Jane Anders, and Warren Ellis. Library Journal, "Debut of the Month" (*Starred Review*)

"Deeply, constantly funny, and able to transform from a breezy page-turner into a serious exploration of class and trauma in a few well-turned sentences. Tor.com

"A wondrous chimera of a book . . . The Municipalists challenges our reliance on new technology and the utopian ideals we hope it enables. And with it, Fried, who is acclaimed for his wildly imaginative short stories, displays his genre-bending talent and creativity in full force." CrimeReads

"Having finished writing this piece, I feel simultaneously disheartened and elated; disheartened at not being able to fully describe the weirdness, the originality, the sheer heart within this book, and elated because thousands of readers are about to experience it for themselves. Why am I still talking? Just read it." Book of the Month Club

"A novel full of people who care deeply about the details, written by someone who understands that the