Fiction
2015 Pushcart nominees
Fiction, the Brooklyn Rail
Reason, however, had soured on the vine. That and civilization itself, which struck me now as rotting ever onward—zombielike. I rejected them both at once and turned to the jungle in favor of a savage’s noble heart. Almost immediately, I was assaulted by a wind of a most disgusting nature—a hot, sulfurous wind, not for the faint of heart. I stuck my nose in it only to draw conclusions, mind you, and came away convinced that all forms of life must have a common ancestry. So much for the jungle.
—from Russell by Daniel Grandbois
“A Regular Day For Real People” by Robert Lopez
October 2014
Robert Lopez’s “A Regular Day for Regular People” is a funny and strange look into the mind of an obsessed man. In it the main character challenges a friend’s sister to a tennis match that could put an end to their one-sided relationship, force another one to start, and ultimately hurt more than one person.
“Music Below Ground” by Santiago Vizcaino translated from the Spanish by Kimrey Anna Batts
November 2014
In “Music Below Ground,” Santiago Vizcaino tells a magical story about a man who struggles with the loss of the guitar that had become like another limb on his many dalliances. His wife, hardened by his infidelities, keeps the instrument’s location a secret.
“Russell” by Daniel Grandbois
September 2014
Daniel Grandbois’s “Russel” is an exploration of the history of philosophy. A fictionalized Bertrand Russell makes his way through ideas about utopia, literature, and civilization as a whole while revising Empedocles, Socrates, Aquinas, and Erasmus.
“More Epiphanies” by Richard Kostelanetz
February 2014
Richard Kostelanetz’s “More Epiphanies” is as much about the stories within it as it is about writing stories. The continuation of seemingly isolated sentences challenge the reader’s expectations of what a story is supposed to be.
“Moment of Return” by Luisa Valenzuela translated from the Spanish by Marguerite Feitlowitz
July/August 2014
Returning to her home country after years abroad, a woman struggles with her decision. She retreats to a hotel with a stranger she met on the plane, bringing up questions about exile and the fear of confronting the past.
Extracts from Field Glass by Joanna Rucco & Joanna Howard
April 2014
This collaborative work is set in a post-apocalyptic world in technological chaos whose circumstances and challenges are revealed by testimonies of recluses, doctors, and soldiers.
Contributors
Donald BreckenridgeDonald Breckenridge is the Fiction Editor of The Brooklyn Rail, and co-Editor and co-Founder of InTranslation. He is the author of more than a dozen plays, and four novels including, And Then, which was published by Godine/Black Sparrow in the spring of 2017.
Claudia Acevedo-QuiñonesCLAUDIA ACEVEDO-QUIÑONES was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She lives and writes in Hampton Bays, NY.
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