About the Book: A Treatise on Martian Chiropractic Manipulation and Other Satirical Tales
Human beings are flawed creatures, and humor is the perfect means to exploit the endless fodder of our shortcomings. This multi-genre collection of twenty-one short satirical stories will leave you smirking, chuckling, scratching your head, and maybe even muttering to yourself “WTF is this?”
From the award-winning author of the acclaimed short story collections “Core Truths” and “Passageways: Short Speculative Fiction” comes something a little bit irreverent and a whole lot of weird.
Ketchup-covered chiropractors on Mars. Wealthy vigilante housewives battling coffee-addicted aliens. Cheerleaders protesting unrestricted access to cupcakes. Canine doulas. Hallucinating marine biologists. No one is immune from the absurdity.
Buy, read, and discuss this book:
Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads
About the Author: Lisa Fox 
Lisa Fox loves to ask questions. By day, she’s a pharmaceutical market researcher. By night, she channels that same inquisitive spirit into writing short fiction, building worlds and characters that explore the meaning of life, the universe, and everything in between. She survives, and sometimes thrives, in the chaos of suburban New Jersey with her husband, two sons, and quirky Double-Doodle dog. Lisa is an award-winning author of two short story collections: Core Truths and Passageways: Short Speculative Fiction.
Connect with Lisa:
Website | BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter)
My Thoughts 
If satire is a mirror, A Treatise on Martian Chiropractic Manipulation and Other Satirical Tales tilts it just enough to catch the light at an unexpected angle.
This multi-genre collection moves between speculative fiction, satire, social commentary, and moments that are deliberately unsettling. Humor is very much part of the mix, but it is not the whole of it. Fox allows different stories to do different kinds of work, and the tonal shifts feel intentional rather than scattered.
The titular piece is a standout and an effective entry point into the collection’s sensibility. Beyond that, some of my favorite stories include “A Feral Yearning,” “Community Watch,” and “Crazy for Coqui.” These pieces succeed for very different reasons. Community Watch is the most overtly tense, grounded in suspicion and collective behavior. As someone who has always struggled to fit in, and is now in her second term as a member of her HOA’s board of directors, this piece particularly resonated with me. A Feral Yearning and Crazy for Coqui feel more observational, exploring ideas and impulses without pressing for a single emotional response.
“Is That an Emotional Support Robot?” left me wanting more, which I mean as a compliment. “Population Management” and “Obfuscation Nation,” by contrast, are both brilliant and disturbing, stories that do not soften their implications or rush toward resolution.
Across twenty-one stories, Fox demonstrates strong control of craft while working across genres and tones. Some pieces are amusing, others thought-provoking or quietly unsettling. There isn’t a weak choice in the collection, only different entry points depending on what kind of story you’re in the mood for.
Goes well with: coffee made from real Brazilian beans and a chocolate-mint cupcake.
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