Publication: Electric Lit

  • Blood Makes a Bad Dye by Samantha Xiao Cody

    The narrator of this story is the Chinese-American daughter of a single mother, trying to fit in with the cool kids at ballet camp. Her adventures are painfully awkward and relatable, and as the story goes on she gains a new understanding of her mother’s story. Each morning, I rose at six to dress before…

  • The Birthday Clown of Your Queer Fantasy by Kristen Arnett

    A raunchy, hilarious and unforgettable excerpt from Kristen Arnett’s new book Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One. I’ve entertained an entire backyard full of people with nothing but a wooden spoon and a cast-iron pan as accompaniment, drumming the theme from The Brady Bunch while simultaneously dancing a jig. I’ve landed a somersault on a Slip…

  • All Stories by Kevin Wilson

    The narrator of Wilson’s story is a lonely, depressed college student who attempted suicide when he was younger and has stopped taking his meds. That doesn’t sound like the setup for a touching and memorable story, but this is one. One night, while I pretended to be asleep, facing the cinderblock wall of my dorm,…

  • Housemom by Hannah Gregory

    ‘Housemom’ is an excellent title for this story. The narrator’s mother is dying of cancer and the place will literally fall apart without her. Gregory’s characters feel like a real family — they love each other but maybe don’t like each other much. Things unravel in a sad, comic and very human way. Robbie is…

  • M.A.S.H by Sarah Gerard

    A memoir piece about being sexually pursued and harassed as a teenager, by an employee of her father’s. She describes the toxic masculinity of the advertising agency in the late 90s so well you can almost smell the place. At times it reminded me of Jill Ciment’s Consent: Is it scandalous or naïve to say…

  • These Are the Fables

    This story about a woman finding out she’s pregnant and telling the would-be father goes places I would never have predicted. It’s the first I’ve read of hers but it won’t be the last. Recommended in this thread of gems by Aaron Burch.

  • A Cruise Ship for the Disappeared

    An insurance investigation into a disaster involving a cruise ship. I loved the subtle hints about the cause of the disaster

  • Mrs. Morrison Proofreads Her Obituary

    I laughed out loud at this, what a great first piece

  • The Great Silence

    “It’s no coincidence that “aspiration” means both hope and the act of breathing.” This is an older story, it’s included in his excellent collection Exhalations. It reminds me of Benjamin Labatut, weaving science and fiction together with an emphasis on soul.

  • House Hunters

    The Purge plus real estate. Unhinged in the best way.