Prickly people and alternative methods of communication appear in a variety of forms in “Survival Tips,” a collection of short stories written by Miriam Gershow.

The Eugene-based author teaches writing at the University of Oregon. Her acclaimed first novel, “The Local News,” was published 15 years ago, while this assemblage of shorter fiction was 20 years in the making.

The wait was worth it — these tales feature intricately detailed characters who blunder through life’s dilemmas, big and small. There are friends who treat each other badly, spouses who are thoughtless toward one another and people who are ill-suited to their vocations.

It makes for tough but compelling reading. No one is really likable, but readers likely will recognize themselves in some of the behaviors and scenarios that play out over the ten stories: A parent-teacher conference goes awry, a blind date is a dud, a crush on a stranger begins to look more like an unhealthy obsession, childhood besties become alienated from one another as adolescents.

Who among us hasn’t experienced at least some of these?

This week’s book

“Survival Tips” by Miriam Gershow

Propeller Books — 156 pp — $17.95

In the story called “Congratulations, Baby,” a baby shower throws together a motley assortment of guests, and the only people who seem to have the potential to treat each other well are the ones who have “the tentativeness of new friendship, the halting tenderness of people who haven’t yet been terrible to each other.”

“Survival Tips: Toddler Birthday Party,” features another uncomfortable gathering, and a different cast of characters. Here a husband and wife throw a birthday party for their 3-year-old, which involves herding a clueless bunch of tots through the obligatory piñata, cupcakes and party favors from the dollar store. The other parents in attendance aren’t really friends, they’re just other “sleep-deprived strangers.” Everyone is going through the motions on behalf of socializing their kids, but all of them are enduring the event, rather than enjoying it.

Another story centers on an ersatz sweat lodge that wreaks physical harm, rather than allowing paying customers to get in touch with their inner selves.

This collection sounds like a downer, but there is something to the old adage that misery loves company. The characters are so truly drawn, and the interior narratives they entertain are so brutally and sometimes hilariously honest, it is difficult to look away.

While the stories were written over the last two decades, they really seem to reflect the widespread disaffection that seems to have taken hold in our troubled post-quarantine society.

It’s understandable why “Book of Adornments,” which has to do with gravestone embellishments, is chosen for the culminating story. It makes sense thematically.

But for readers searching for a glimmer of optimism to round out this reading experience, I’d recommend saving the story called “Lines of Communication” for last. Partially told via rebus puzzles, this tale celebrates spunk and offers “a zing of chili in dark chocolate” — this author’s version of a silver lining in every cloud.

“Survival Tips” was published by Propeller Books, a Portland-based press.