MC “Laura” is nothing short of honest, which gives Hugh Cron’s Concealer an extra level of irony. At her interview for what we Americans call Unemployment Insurance, she divulges the reasons for her loss of a job–and how. Her delightfully profane observations and storytelling (only half-heartedly, so it seems, warned off by her interviewer) say much about the downside of the workplace and people in general.
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Long time site friend David Henson has published everything from tragedy to jocularity with us. He excels at stretching reality until you believe that, why yes, I can see a future in which handling a black mamba for forty seconds without dying can improve one’s credit score.
Continue reading “Literally Reruns – Byrds Syndrome by David Henson”
Whenever I read of domestic abuse I always think “If anyone did that to me, he’d be picking up teeth.” Fortunately, that has never been put to task in my world, but if so, would I react as I say? I really don’t know, I might go for an eye instead.
Continue reading “Literally Reruns – Bubbles by Diane M Dickson”
Joy Florentine has the singular distinction of providing more content to the rerun feature than stories. Still, to date, her first LS story is a wonder of brevity and displays what a flash piece can be, other than short.
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Tom Sheehan’s Two Characters in Shantytown is a high combination of realism, art, despair, the past and that which carries the same into the future. The “cartographer” knows that the story will not come full circle until someone is fed to the river.
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I had three paragraphs written for Harrison Kim’s Crisis Line, but I discovered that I had nothing to say on the topic that Kim didn’t say better. So, the good news is that I am smart enough to have realized that, and the better news is that Mr. Kim is around to answer my questions.
Continue reading “Literally Reruns – Crisis Line by Rerun Harrison Kim.”
There are many amiable characters in the archives and there are guys like the eponymous star of Hugh Cron’s Hans.
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If I was better educated–or at least paid closer attention during what education I received–I’d know all the words the professors use to describe and sometimes drain the blood out of the written word. I am certain that there are fancy definitions for what goes on in Frederick K. Foote’s Peculiar Folk, but, really, in the end, no matter what something may be in the scientific sense, does it walk when you read it is still the most important thing of all.
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Adam Kluger’s Pooboogle is a first class example of the ray of light finding a down and outer kind of story. A form probably first thought up by one of the girls on the Ark. Yet Adam has not only updated the shape to fit the times, he still manages to find something new to say. I can’t locate specific examples (maybe the six fingered guy) as much as I got a refreshing vibe from the story. Maybe it is because of all the sour tales out there which attempt relevance by conveying steady rain and suicidal tendencies.
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When you put out a shingle that says STORIES WANTED, you get a little bit of the good stuff and plenty of what you deserve for your impertinence. The “plenty of what you deserve” element is easy to describe: In some way something about each one in it sucks. That’s as scientific a way of putting it as I can give you. But the good stuff is hard to define; and sadly, some of the good stuff meets the same fate as the suck stuff for one reason or another. Actually, most of what we reject is well done, just the story is in some way incomplete, in our humble estimation.
Continue reading “Literally Reruns – Nose by Doug Hawley”
literally stories 