Friday short fiction #19: ordinary and extraordinary tales of attraction
Stefano Mazzoni Magnetique 2009
J.G. Ballard, 'Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan' (1968; collected in THE ATROCITY EXHIBITION, 1970)
From the sharper end of Ballard's oeuvre, written as a scientific paper cataloguing experiments relating to Reagan's psychosexual appeal while he was still Governor of California. It also reveals a slim connection to Ballard's later, sensationalized novel Crash ("...placing Reagan in a series of simulated auto-crashes..."), which I must also get round to re-reading. To me this still feels like Ballard at his most uncompromising.
Roxane Gay, 'There is No ”E“ in Zombi Which Means There Can Be No You Or We' (GUERNICA, 1 OCTOBER 2010)
A Haitian woman plans to be the next lover of a man she wants to turn into a zombie. A neat story that may or may not also say things about male/female relationships that don't involve zombification, although that's really down to your own point of view.
Etgar Keret, 'Crazy Glue' (collected in THE GIRL ON THE FRIDGE, 2008)
From the current ambassador of younger Israeli fiction, this is one of Keret's best-known stories about a man who's lost his commitment to his marriage yet whose wife adopts unusual measures to keep him. A charming story, there's also a cute five-minute animation of it up at YouTube.
Alka Khushalani, 'This Side of the World' (CHA: AN ASIAN LITERARY JOURNAL #10, FEBRUARY 2010)
A discreet liaison between two co-workers in Bombay, one visiting on business from abroad, who bounce off each other with little in common except their brief mutual attraction. I like the sense of a gulf between their worlds despite the two sharing the same root culture, and the need for discretion is well illustrated. Khushalani somehow also prompts your imagination to add a little extra atmosphere of your own.
Sara Kate Levy, 'Dirty Darlene' (CARVE MAGAZINE, FALL 2010)
A female taxi driver one day finds herself attracted to a teenager in her cab, and with whom she shares some drugs that open mental doors for her. This is a good story of hopes raised then casually dashed; it's authentic and sympathetic and I finished it wanting more, although that would have to mean a different ending.
Nuala Ní Chonchúir, 'To the World of Men, Welcome' (collected in TO THE WORLD OF MEN, WELCOME, 2005)
An Irish girl working in a Swiss ski resort has to juggle with the affections of two men. This contains the right vibe of naïvety and discovery about mens' often puzzling motives, plus the story also possesses an authentic 'gap year' feel without needing to go overboard on detail.
Favourite short story of the week: Benjamin Rosenbaum, 'The House Beyond Your Sky' (STRANGE HORIZONS, 4 SEPTEMBER 2006)
A little girl witnesses her father's assault on her mother but, at the same time, God finds he has bigger problems to deal with. From a Judeo-Christian perspective this story looks at the question of why there is pain in the universe and also asks, If humanity is made in God's image, who does God pray to? As above, so below, plus ça change, on and on... an ambitious fantasy that's particularly well paced with much conceptual invention, all of which earned it a place on the 2007 Hugo shortlist.