Lately I've been really turned off from really inauthentic dialogue. Sometimes it's overly quirky with no straight character to balance it out (see the Fabelmans), other times it's overly pretentious, such as in Lore Segal's "Around the Corner You Can't See Around." It reminded me of those scenes in the Cosby Show when Claire and her college professor/friend would suddenly quote long lines of Shakespeare. Do people actually sit around and do this? I consider myself fairly well-educated and I've never encountered it. And am pretty sure I have no interest.   ..read more

"A Delivery of Cheesesteaks" by Alan Grayce is one of those sci-fi stories where I think the story would have been better served without the sci-fi elements.  About a homeless veteran who becomes a hero, the sci-fi elements felt tacked on to me, like an afterthought to ensure publication. The homeless guy was great though ..read more

Probably a whole slew of reasons why Charles Johnson's cartoons escaped my radar until now, but I'm grateful they finally did.  There are political cartoons and there are satirical political cartoons, the latter, if done right, are also funny. Johnson's cartoons are funny. Broken up into specific collection, Johnson offers short introductions to each and in one of these he considers whether or not a cartoon can considered a visual poem. He concludes, "Like the best haiku, where a thought or feeling is perfectly expressed in just a few lines and is instantly understood, a well-done carto ..read more

When a short story, such as Anthony Varallo's "Dispatches from a Housesitter" ends abruptly, especially if I've been enjoying it up to that point, I find myself wondering if missed something or if the author had an intent in mind. The description and voice in this story are superb. As for the point? I'm wondering if I'm supposed to see a parallel between the narrator and the dog he's taking care of ..read more

I still remember an old writing assignment from my childhood; a day in the life of a penny. I thought of it again today with O. Henry's "A Newspaper Story" which essentially is a day in the life of a newspaper. The moral of the story is that the printed word holds power to affect change but it's somewhat in jest. In this case it's the physical paper that actually creates change, and coincidentally, in the lives of those written about in the newspaper. It's amusing, fast paced, and wonderfully detailed ..read more

I love the scenes described by Emma Francieczek's "The Other Woman," at once evoking a mood and complimenting the character development.  It's a story of a love triangle, and as these things tend to go, eventually a tragic love triangle.  ..read more

 The voice in Allie Erickson's "A Man's Man" is strong and yet it isn't. It's strong in the sense that it's well-developed and believable yet it's from the point of view of a man who lacks any confidence. He sees his difference from other men (soldiers) as a reason for shame. Nor does he entertain the idea that maybe some of the other men were fronting, really no more secure in the ability (or desire) to kill another man than he was.  Needless to say, it's a sad, but effective story ..read more

Like most of the world, my attention has been with Ukraine for some time now and of course, on the man responsible. Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin, written by a former White House advisor on Russian relations, seemed like a great place to start. It certainly confirmed my suspicions on the man: all the ruthlessness and fragile ego of Trump but with an actual brain for schemes, he's an incredibly dangerous individual. Perhaps it was not the intent though of Weiss that I also walked away realizing more and more how Russia and U.S. interfere in the world and we're all large ..read more

 Terry Bisson's "They're Made Out of Meat" is a humorous look at an alien life form who discovers, and disgusted by the fact, that humans are entirely made of meat. He is so repulsed by this in fact that he deems the entire human race not worthy of contact.  Being judged so harshly just for what we are? I don't know, maybe the humans are better off ..read more

While set in a fictional place, it's not hard to draw parallels with real life places in Tanvi Ahuja's short story "Kairi's Sixteenth." It deals with a young Hindu girl who's facing an arranged marriage. I don't think it's too big a spoiler to report that it does not present arranged marriage in a positive light. She also offers up some great criticism of some societies that support arrange marriages (patriarchal to the point of misogyny).  Bleak, but effective story ..read more