One Great Short Story To Read Today: Aimee Bender, “off”

According to nan powers that beryllium (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of nan Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for nan third twelvemonth successful a row, nan Literary Hub unit will beryllium recommending a azygous short story, free* to publication online, each (work) time of nan month. Why not publication on pinch us? Today, we recommend:

Aimee Bender, “Off”

“Off” has everything I emotion successful a short story: a spiky voice, a stupid plan, a constricted scope (it takes spot astatine a azygous party) and a nagging separator of surrealism contempt being virtually realist. (“Candy-coated realism” is my favourite explanation for this.) Admittedly, nan voice—delightfully judgmental, perchance deluded, wholly entertaining—is somewhat much communal now than it was erstwhile I first publication and fell successful emotion pinch this communicative successful 2004; but Bender walks a deft small tightrope pinch her Unlikeable Female Character: she brings her vulnerability truthful adjacent to nan aboveground that it’s intolerable not to beryllium invested successful her (again, stupid) plan. It’s each nosy and games until it’s emotionally resonant! It’s each sexy outfits and dormant dogs until you’re getting fished retired of a closet! The consequence is benignant of for illustration eating a ridiculous confection and past uncovering a afloat repast successful nan middle. But past Bender has agelong been a benignant of literate Willy Wonka…

The communicative begins:

At nan statement I make a extremity and it is to buss 3 men: 1 pinch achromatic hair, 1 pinch reddish hair, nan 3rd blond. Not needfully successful that order. I’m unsocial astatine nan statement and I person my portion successful a mug because by nan clip I sewage here, astatine nan perfect infinitesimal of lateness, nan big had utilized each her bluish glasses pinch fluted stems that she bought from nan section home-supply shop that each others wrong a ten-block radius had bought excessively because astatine immoderate inexplicable constituent successful time, everybody woke up pinch identical taste. I spot 2 matching sweaters and 4 akin handbags. It’s capable to make you want to bargain disfigured isolated from different group are having that guidance excessively and I spot 3 identically disfigured pairs of shoes. There’s conscionable obscurity to hide. I cognize nan big present from high-school clip and she likes to induce maine to things because for one, she feels sorry for maine and for two, she finds maine entertaining and blushes erstwhile I cuss. It’s really we flirt.

Read it here.

*If you deed a paywall, we urge trying pinch a different/private/incognito browser (but listen, you didn’t perceive it from us).