Cities of Men

Nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, William Jensen is the editor of Southwestern American Literature and Texas Books in Review. His short fiction has appeared in journals such as The New Plains Review, The Texas Review, Stoneboat, and various other journals. Mr. Jensen, who grew up in southern California and central Arizona, lives in the Texas hill country and teaches English and Southwestern studies at Texas State University, from which he obtained his MFA degree. While obtaining his MFA he studied under Robert Stone and Tim O'Brien.

“William Jensen’s compelling debut novel touches a central mystery of contemporary American life: How can a boy manage to become a man when all the models he has are numb, angry, damaged—or absent altogether?” —John Benditt, PEN-nominated and National Jewish Book Award-winning author of The Boatmaker“. . . deeply moving and complex . . . has an ear to the ground for what makes us fully human: our yearning for more than the world will give. CITIES OF MEN asks the big questions that all great novels do: Who are we? And how do we know? Jensen is a writer to watch.”—Scott Blackwood, PEN USA Award finalist and Whiting Writers’ Award-winning author"William Jensen’s CITIES OF MEN manages the remarkable..."—Manhattan Book Review