On "Treatment" by Barbara DeCesare (314 words) ***

In the film Stranger Than Fiction, poor Will Ferrell discovers that his life is being made into a movie--and it's a tragedy. In my own life, as a kid, I used to pretend my doings were all being captured on television, as in that Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show. I'd go to the bathroom, and the TV station would go to commercials. I know longer think that way, knowing my life is about as exciting as watching a snail eat a leaf (or whatever a snail eats). But that my concept of life on film is not unique is evidenced by the many movies that take such an idea as their subject. And stories too. In this story by Barbara DeCesare, however, the protagonist is not the main character (or is, depending on how one reads the story), which is itself an interesting twist on the theme. Not even the main character of one's own life. These days, in the midst of all the turmoil, with forces we have little to do with crumbling our lives around us, it seems apropos. Read the story here at Tarpaulin Sky.