Fiction – Page 37 – Michigan Quarterly Review

Fiction

MQR 55:3 | Summer 2016

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Susan Choi stirs the waters in the 2016 Hopwood Lecture, Pearl Abraham surprises with unexpected connections between political and private wrongdoing, Natalie Bakopoulos sorts through the tangled relationship at the heart of Elena Ferrante’s four Neapolitan novels.

Fiction from Mark Brazaitis, Cynthia Dockrell, Beth Kissileff, Barbara Krasner, Matthew Lansburgh, Monica McFawn, and Elizabeth Poliner.

Poetry from Natalia Romero (translated by Seth Michelson) and Felicia Zamora.

MQR 55:3 | Summer 2016 Read More »

Susan Choi stirs the waters in the 2016 Hopwood Lecture, Pearl Abraham surprises with unexpected connections between political and private wrongdoing, Natalie Bakopoulos sorts through the tangled relationship at the heart of Elena Ferrante’s four Neapolitan novels.

Fiction from Mark Brazaitis, Cynthia Dockrell, Beth Kissileff, Barbara Krasner, Matthew Lansburgh, Monica McFawn, and Elizabeth Poliner.

Poetry from Natalia Romero (translated by Seth Michelson) and Felicia Zamora.

“Donor Organs,” by Joyce Carol Oates

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Must’ve been a time of contagion somehow he’d picked up like hepatitis C this morbid fear of dying young and his “organs” being “harvested” ribcage opened up, pried open with giant jaws you’d hear the cracking of the bones deftly with surgical instruments the organs spooned out blood vessels, nerves “snipped” and “tied” your organs packed in dry ice, in waterproof containers to be carried by messenger to the “donor recipient” this sick-slipping-helpless sensation in his gut like skidding his car, his parents’ new Audi they’d trusted him with, on black ice approaching the Tappan Zee bridge deep in the gut, a knowledge of the futility of all human wishes, volition

“Donor Organs,” by Joyce Carol Oates Read More »

Must’ve been a time of contagion somehow he’d picked up like hepatitis C this morbid fear of dying young and his “organs” being “harvested” ribcage opened up, pried open with giant jaws you’d hear the cracking of the bones deftly with surgical instruments the organs spooned out blood vessels, nerves “snipped” and “tied” your organs packed in dry ice, in waterproof containers to be carried by messenger to the “donor recipient” this sick-slipping-helpless sensation in his gut like skidding his car, his parents’ new Audi they’d trusted him with, on black ice approaching the Tappan Zee bridge deep in the gut, a knowledge of the futility of all human wishes, volition

“Betty Brown Calling,” by Michael Byers

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But the job, like the others, had its pleasures. When a voice did answer to the name on the list it seemed to Caroline a piece of luck, and to use a false identity was a wonderful novelty. She was Betty Brown. She had heard of actors who were nervous stammering people while offstage but who became fluid and confident once concealed behind the mask of a character. Now she knew how they felt.

“Betty Brown Calling,” by Michael Byers Read More »

But the job, like the others, had its pleasures. When a voice did answer to the name on the list it seemed to Caroline a piece of luck, and to use a false identity was a wonderful novelty. She was Betty Brown. She had heard of actors who were nervous stammering people while offstage but who became fluid and confident once concealed behind the mask of a character. Now she knew how they felt.

“The Virginity Auction,” by Laura Maylene Walter

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Clarissa had a deal for a one-time transaction with the Kitty Cup Ranch outside of Virginia City, Nevada, twenty-six hundred miles away from her home in Maryland. In recent months she and Bitsy, the ranch owners, and the ranch’s legal team had been drawing up the contract. If all went well, Clarissa would choose a man from among the highest bidders and complete the auction by mid-August, before she started college.

“The Virginity Auction,” by Laura Maylene Walter Read More »

Clarissa had a deal for a one-time transaction with the Kitty Cup Ranch outside of Virginia City, Nevada, twenty-six hundred miles away from her home in Maryland. In recent months she and Bitsy, the ranch owners, and the ranch’s legal team had been drawing up the contract. If all went well, Clarissa would choose a man from among the highest bidders and complete the auction by mid-August, before she started college.

On “Froelich’s Ladder”: An Interview with Jamie Duclos-Yourdon

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“From a plot perspective, each of my characters has the opportunity to help another character, and they all take that opportunity. Now, in order to facilitate those decisions, I had to introduce them to peril. I was fine sticking them in dire situations, knowing that they’d make it through unscathed. Nobody comes off worse than he or she begins.”

On “Froelich’s Ladder”: An Interview with Jamie Duclos-Yourdon Read More »

“From a plot perspective, each of my characters has the opportunity to help another character, and they all take that opportunity. Now, in order to facilitate those decisions, I had to introduce them to peril. I was fine sticking them in dire situations, knowing that they’d make it through unscathed. Nobody comes off worse than he or she begins.”

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