Saturday, May 7, 2022

What was the father-in-law's height in centimeters? "Paradise" by Yxta Maya Murray, Best American Short Stories, 2021

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It's inevitable that in an anthology of twenty stories, there will be a few that don't seem as transcendent to me as they did to the...
1 comment:
Thursday, May 5, 2022

Be dog: "Clementine, Carmelita, Dog" by David Means, Best American Short Stories 2021

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Nothing turns me against a story as much as the feeling I'm being trifled with. The best example of this I can think of is Curtis Sitten...
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Sunday, May 1, 2022

The physics of safety: "Switzerland" by Nicole Krauss, Best American Short Stories 2021

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At the end of "Switzerland" by Nicole Krauss, the unnamed narrator muses that a "person can happen to you and only half a lif...
2 comments:
Saturday, April 30, 2022

I have more student loan debt now than when I graduated in 2003, and I'm not sure canceling student loan debt is good policy

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I grew up a stone's throw from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so it was kind of foreordained I would at least try to play high school fo...
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Thursday, April 28, 2022

Saved: "Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" by Jamil Jan Kochai, Best American Short Stories 2021

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I try to analyze stories (talk about what they mean) rather than review them (talk about whether I like them), but I really loved this story...
3 comments:
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Is it religion, or is it culture? "Escape from the Dysphesiac People" by Brandon Hobson, Best American Short Stories 2021

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Bart Ehrman's The Triumph of Christianity  asserts that it is difficult to talk about Christianity taking the place of native Roman reli...
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Monday, April 25, 2022

The critic is evicted: "The Rest of Us" by Jenzo Duque, Best American Short Stories 2021

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For a blogger trying to come up with 20 interesting takes on 20 stories, the best fodder is a Goldilocks kind of story: not too hard and not...
2 comments: