A great story by an important emerging writer from the Bahamas.
"Have you ever wanted something very badly and then gotten it? Then you know that winning is many things, but it is never the thing you thought it would be. Poor people who win the lottery do not become rich people. They become poor people who won the lottery."
— from Miranda July’s short story, “Birthmark”
"If you can still see how you could once have loved a person, you are still in love; an extinct love is always wholly incredible."
— Michael Chabon’s short story, “Ocean Avenue,” begins with this line, one I happen to think about on a daily basis.
Really love this story about ghosts, grief, and partnership. Check it out.
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.
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.
