Publication: Lit Hub
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My Parents and My Children by Samanta Schweblin
From the collection Seven Empty Houses, Schweblin is at her weird best in this story about a man’s parents who seem to be suffering from dementia, and the drama it causes with his ex-wife and kids: Where are your parents’ clothes?” asks Marga. She crosses her arms and waits for my answer. She knows I…
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Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett
An excerpt from Arnett’s novel of the same name. This is a bizarre and hilarious story about a somewhat sinister, adulterous lesbian clown. Dwight had already seen me perform back when I was first starting out. He’d liked it fine, he’d said, but it wasn’t exactly his thing. That I understood—my big brother was never…
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Snapshot of a Self by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
I have a loved one that’s been transitioning in fits and starts for a long time, and this story really struck a chord with me. The last line is a doozy. After you stepped over a threshold on the other side of the world, triggering the ding of the barber’s unseen bell. After you watched…
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Endlings
A ghost story revolving around a fictionalized version of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who you likely know of if you don’t know the names. Written in the lyrical and absorbing language typical of Machado: I told him the truth, or the truth as best as I understood it: I was born under an erratic star…