It’s a few days into a new month, and you can probably tell what’s next: we have some May books we’d like to recommend. Stylistically, they cover a lot of terrain; you’ll find everything from experimental short fiction to haunting meditations of contemporary politics here. Read on for some suggestions for the weeks to come.
In our morning reading, revisiting the fiction of George S. Schuyler, indie press recommendations, and more.
Where the One-Eyed Man Is King
by Alex Behr
There was a little hole. A hole in the shoe’s sole. The shoe was behind a tree, a lackluster beach tree near the bay, but no one remembered losing a shoe much less putting it there. Frito barked and carried it over. Dropped it in front of Sharon, sitting on a plaid blanket. Sharon took that as a good sign. She was on meds. So were her mother and her sisters and nieces, but not the men in the family. Well, they took statins that ruined their erections, a rare side effect, but too bad for them, but they didn’t take anything for the anxiety that resulted from being on statins, or losing their erections. But if they weren’t on statins they might keel over, like when moving rocks or taking down storm windows. They drooled on their pillows. They told good jokes.
In our weekend reading: exploring the new novel by Mauro Javier Cárdenas, revisiting Paul Auster’s bibliography, and more.
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Kathleen Hanna, thoughts on Percival Everett’s new novel, and more.
In our morning reading: advice from Kristen Arnett, an interview with Helen McClory, and more.
In our afternoon reading: interviews with Lars Iyer and Kathleen Hanna, new writing by Lilly Dancyger, and more.
Chapter 18
Last weekend; Friday after lunch.
Morgen walked ahead with her gun barrel aiming at the ground while scanning the horizon and sweeping the tall grass with a killer’s intensity. All morning I’d been worrying how to operate this gun. I’ve never held or used one before. It seemed pretty simple. You pump it. You point it. You make something explode like a nanoscopic Big Bang Event.