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Doggone it, where are the newsstands or bookstores where a person in rural America can peruse literary journals? This week I went in search of contemporary short stories, in print, in literary journals. I found one lonely copy of The Strand and one well thumbed Paris Review at our quasi local Barnes and Noble. Tail between my legs, it was head for an airport or scoot back to the internet. I’m a sad puppy. I’d move to the big city, but I’d have to get a divorce.

•  “The Sequel”, by Jeffery Deaver, The Strand Magazine, Nov-Feb 2012/2013

This gave me a chance to sample the writing of a popular mystery writer. Deaver wrote “The Sequel” expressly for The Strand so the literary theme is no surprise. The writer uses a nice device to introduce his character: “His life was simple:” and then he lists four routine activities the protagonist engages in that quickly bring us up to speed. The author probes the mysteries of the publishing world as well as the puzzle of the missing manuscript, and trumpets his belief that mystery and thriller writers tell good stories because they don’t indulge in literary pretensions.  

• “The Sound of Healing”, by Emil Ostrovski, Word Riot, Jan 2013 

Word Riot features forceful voices and edgy material. Death is always an edgy subject and this child’s eye view is no exception. It’s clear early on that divine comfort is not an option for young Jonas. In the dark belly of the beast the mourners seek to comfort themselves, an unsatisfying occupation.

• “Experience”, by Tessa Hadley, The New Yorker, Jan 21, 2013

What will it take to get Laura out of the doldrums of divorce and moving forward? A little yardage gain across her boundaries:

I was afraid of getting drunk by myself every night. But this evening, the first sips were delicious—a high green note like a bell at the front of my mind.

• “Admit It”, by Amy Silverberg  Storyglossia, Issue 48 December 2012

What others tell us they see and what we experience work together to define us.

• “Spectacular Mistakes”, by Wendy Rawlings,  AGNIonline

Wendy articulates in compelling ways the dilemma of an agnostic that drives some to Jesus and others to the bottle.

…it’s a bodily terror I feel. The body will be wounded, the body will perish. And I with it, ceasing to exist.

• “How Our Town Got Its New Name and Some Other Stuff That Happened” by Marie Potoczny failbetter.com

A clever look at our human nature that compels us to want to destroy each other, written appropriately in first person plural. I appreciated the satire but found myself saying, it’s not that simple; reminds me of the Pogo cartoon, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

• “Angel in the House”, by DovBer Naiditch, Prairie Schooner, Vol . 86, No. 4 (Winter 2012)

This a creative, poignant story about separation; like a dissonant musical phrase, it resolves into mysterious beauty at the end; disturbing and satisfying at the same time.