WE HAD IT COMING | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

“I’ve been asking myself just how it is that a person can go about their day to day life at a time like this and I keep coming back to another question which is how did we ever convince ourselves we had the right to do so before?”

That question runs through We Had It Coming, a collection of stories that pulse with both the familiar and the uncanny. O’Neil’s characters struggle to survive in a reality rife with violence, addiction, fascism, and the crushing weight of modern life. From the threat of mass shootings to the absurdity of predatory healthcare, his sharp observations of societal decay leave a lasting impact.

Yet even amid the chaos, O’Neil’s trademark wit cuts through, offering moments of unexpected levity. Jumping from CVS to the emergency room to a seaside Massachusetts town ravaged by the opioid crisis, and blending short stories, poetry, and micro-fiction, O’Neil’s stream-of-consciousness style and inventive syntax pull the reader into a mesmerizing rhythm.

Fans of his previous work will find a continuation of his unique voice, and new readers will be captivated by his unflinching portrayal of survival in a world gone awry.

Author Luke O’Neil is joining us on the Busboys stage alongside Patrick Reis, political editor at Slate, to celebrate the release of We Had It Coming and dive deeper into this collection. Writers Ted Scheinman, Chris Scott, and Derek Davison will open the program with readings.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Copies of WE HAD IT COMING will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed. 

We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books

Luke O’Neil is the author of the acclaimed political and literary newsletter Welcome to Hell World and the book of the same name. His collection of short fiction and poetry, A Creature Wanting Form, was published in 2023, and the follow-up, We Had It Coming, will be out later this year. He’s a former writer-at-large for Esquire and was a longtime journalist for The Boston Globe, The Guardian, and many other newspapers and magazines. He was born and will likely die in Massachusetts.

Patrick Reis is the political editor at Slate. Before that he was an editor at Vox and Rolling Stone and worked at the Washington Post, Politico and elsewhere. 

Ted Scheinman is a senior editor at Smithsonian magazine. His forthcoming book, Jolt: My Electric Journey out of Darkness (Scribner, July 2026), is a reported memoir into his own experience with electroconvulsive therapy, or electro-shock. Ted's previous book, decidedly lighter, is called Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan and appeared in 2018 via FSG Originals. (Ted swears it’s not depressing.) His essays and reporting have appeared in GQ, The New Republic, the New York Times, the Paris Review, Slate, and more.

Chris Scott is a regular ClickHole contributor and elementary school teacher in DC. His work has appeared in more than thirty publications and literary magazines, including The New Yorker's Shouts & Murmurs, HAD, Okay Donkey, scaffold, BULL, and Maudlin House.

Derek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.

BOOK DETAILS

We Had It Coming

And Other Fictions

By Luke O’Neil

November 04, 2025 | Paperback, 330 pages, $21.95