31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 8: “Toward Happy Civilization” by Samanta Schweblin; Megan McDowell, trans.
Samanta Schweblin’s story about paralysis and paranoia shares elements in common with Beckett and Kafka.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 7: “Fan Mail” by Peter Robinson
In this short, ironic work of feminist noir, the femme fatale turns the tables on the hapless men and their murderous scheme.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 6: “Still Life No. 41” by Teresa Solana; Peter Bush, trans.
Catalan writer Soldana offers an outrageous premise for a story that serves as an acerbic satire of entitlement and power.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 5: “Renaissance Man” by Maxim Osipov; Boris Dralyuk, trans.
A Moscow oligarch becomes involved with a redheaded soprano and an eleven-year-old boy in a tragedy from the contemporary Russian realist.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 4: “The Ice Queen” by Madeline Sonik
Three female figures, and their carefully interwoven relationships, provide the backbone for this creepily fractured fairy tale.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 3: “Boys Go to Jupiter” by Danielle Evans
Evans’s story deals with the fallout from a viral photo of a white woman in a Confederate flag bikini.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 2: “Adoro Te Devote” by Kristyn Dunnion
Dunnion’s story, about a gay teenager navigating the shoals of religious and sexual attraction, finds its momentum in the juxtaposition of the sacred and profane.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 1: “Helping” by Robert Stone
In this ironically titled story, the author examines subjects of addiction, masculine violence, and PTSD without ever resorting to easy didacticism.
31 Days of Stories 2021: Why read short stories?
Stories require attention and concentration and often yield their meanings only over time, or in retrospect. But the best stories reward vigilance and repeated reading.