Story
Botanical Man
Bonny Finberg
I'm sure there was a moment when I realized it was about to happen. But I can't remember it. It snuck up on me, like snake bite—sending you into a delirium, and just when you realize what's happening you’re dead. It was...
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Story
The Best Night of His Life
Max Blagg
an excerpt from 101 Nights
Every two weeks the exterminator came by the bar to suppress the vermin that swarmed beneath the sinks, behind the kitchen walls and in the basement. There were no rats, but the place had a fluc...
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AfterGraph
D. Scot Miller
Awakened brother catatonic
deified expletive
flayed gargoyle
heathen icon
jack-of-all-trades jaded jalouse jargon
jejune jewelry jiggle joker jockey
jouissance journeyman juvenile joyride
jubilee juke jump juncture juxtapose...
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Waiting For The Red Lady
Jonathan Shaw
2AM Saturday night, Buenos Aires.
Lost in a rancid late night whirlwind of saggy asses and rock hard smiles, my friends upstairs shaking up the night, the tired parade is running out of fun. Tired of the sad old games an...
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Gold Bar Night
Jonathan Shaw
Went to the Gold Bar with the gringo but he wasn't feeling it. No speeky spany. I spotted my little firework girl from Saturday night among the blinking Christmas lights and tacky plastic decorations. We were about to go ...
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NEW
AFROSURREAL MANIFESTO: Black is the new black — a 21st century
D. Scot Miller
AFROSURREAL
D. Scot Miller
I'm not a surrealist. I just paint what I see. — Frida Kahlo
THE PAST AND THE PRELUDE
In his introduction to the classic novel Invisible Man (1952), ambiguous black and literary icon Ralp...
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Strings in the Key of Q
Jane Does
On the subway, someone’s phone begins to ring, or they are watching something on a tiny screen, and a strain of violin music wafts across the seat back and up into my ear. This music, alone, fits; it has a narrative author...
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NEW
A Walk Through the East Village on May Day, 2011
City of Strangers
Went to the East Village Sunday, MayDay, to see if they still have the May Day events in Tompkins Square Park. The events/protests were a big fixture in the early 90's and though I hadn't thought of them in years, I wanted...
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Writing
Hank the Vampire
J. Boyett
Considering that I'm such a regular guy, it's funny how fortunate I've been in my friends—I belong to a little band that is unusual, both for our numbers (there are about twenty of us who have known each other for years), ...
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NEW
The Beer Mystic’s Last Day on the Planet
bart plantenga
previous Beer Mystic Excerpt #43: BLACK BILE PRESS [Ottowa]
Furman Pivo believes he [plus beer] may be the cause of a rash of streetlight outages. This sense of empowerment transforms him into the Beer Mystic. He has ...
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NEW
A Tale of an Affair
Carl Watson
An excerpt from Backwards the Drowned Go Dreaming now available at Amazon
Sometimes the speed works for you. Sometimes you’re left behind. The latter is my usual state. It was the early 1980s, West Lakeview. Subtle ...
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The Bucket O’ Crabs
Jill Rapaport
I was scrunched up tight against Mike and Elvin; we made a gaping trinity off the noses of which Esmee purveyed her shining but misguided Wagnerian fantasies. Her father, like the fathers of more socially assured characters,...
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The Collector
Ron Kolm
I’m a collector. I hunt down runs of literary magazines and signed first editions of tricky prose, and place them in university library archives. I collect comic books and the Jokers from decks of playing cards. I also ...
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Story
Rabbit and Crow
Norman Douglas
Rabbit and Crow watched as the sun came round over the field.
"Did you sleep well?" Rabbit asked Crow.
“I dreamed that I was running through the meadow,” said Crow.
“Ah,” said Rabbit.
Rabbit and Crow set ...
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Story
Somerville
Melissa Febos
An excerpt from "The Savage Library"
I just knew that Somerville would be the kind of neighborhood to go all out at Christmas. I was right. Winter Hill in particular was an orgy of blinking lights and glowing plastic fig...
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