Translated from the Catalan by Peter Bush (Rochester, NY: Open Letter, 2012) Quim Monzó’s a thousand morons is a flat book, and this can be either a good or a bad thing depending on which of its stories you’re reading. … Continued
Translated from the Catalan by Laura McGloughlin (New York, NY: Europa Editions, 2012) In my social circle, there’s a moment at every party in which I suddenly realize my friend Alex is commanding an audience with one of her stories. Her … Continued
There was a hypothetical pregnancy. The woman in question accumulated a box-full of video cassettes featuring pregnant characters. She wore beads around her waist and sat up late in bed with a shawl of her own hair. Roommates circled her … Continued
“There’s a ghost in this house,” says Monica. “Stop it,” says Nell, holding her palm up flat. Just outside the window, beside a low, bare hemlock branch, a ghost is listening. Most people imagine ghosts as the leftovers of … Continued
It feels to me as if I’ve always known Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. As if my brain were born and instantly had Invisible Cities in its matter to refer to. But that wasn’t the order of things. Pippi Longstocking came first and … Continued