One of the stories from Elizabeth Ellen’s book, Fast Machine. There’s a gritty heaviness to even the shortest of her stories, but then a moment will come along that seems to clear everything up. Like the lights coming on toward the end of this story, for instance.
A brilliant little story that begins with the line:
“My lover is experiencing reverse evolution.”
"I think of the people on reality shows, on Dr. Phil and MTV. And I think maybe they aren’t bad people. They aren’t cartoons. They’re just children, most of them, kids who never got to grow up before life dropped something gruesome in their laps. I consider this, then I consider Lori and me, and I thank God for the small kindness of timing."
— From David James Poissant’s story, “Monkey See,” in the Spring 2013 Ploughshares.
Recently selected by Granta as one of the best young British novelists (and recently selected by me as one of the most charismatic writers on YouTube), Helen Oyeyemi reads the fairy tale upon which her novel, Mr. Fox, is based, and then reads from the novel itself.
In honor of my long overdue purchase of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, here’s one of Mr. Fountain’s best stories from his first book, Brief Encounters with Che Guevara.
Taiye Selasi, whose “The Sex Lives of African Girls” appeared in Granta and Best American Short Stories 2012, and whose debut novel Ghana Must Go I just bought, talks about her process and style.
This piece of flash fiction - a love letter both to and from the narrator’s fourteen-year-old self - is as messy as the last word of the story itself.
Challenge: try to finish this short story without clenching your jaw.
If you enjoyed Etgar Keret’s short story, “Todd,” over at Electric Literature, take a few minutes to listen to him read another of his very short stories, “What Do We Have In Our Pockets?” Then, love him even more.
“Todd” by Etgar Keret, published by Electric Literature
Etgar Keret does it again.
(Source: recommendedreading)
Proof that the second-person works extremely well when applied to the right subject.
If you’re anything like me, this story, which was just chosen for the next installment of Best American Short Stories, will stick with you for a long, long time.
The first-place winner of last years’ Kenyon Review short-short story contest. Amazing how much is done in so few words. Every sentence is legit.
"I learned to write fiction the way I learned to read fiction - by skipping the parts that bored me. "
— ― Jonathan Lethem (via thetinhouse)
