On "How to Leave" by Kerri Quinn (2810 words) ****

Good fiction is supposed to be about the details, the specifics. What's nice about this piece is that it does just the opposite--it remains vague. It's the vagueness here that makes the story so effective. Sure, there are details--don't get me wrong. But the story is vague insofar as we don't really get a keen sense of why the narrator feels the way that she does, just as we often don't have a keen sense of why we feel the way we do. We open cans of dog food for the pet. We walk in snow without a jacket. We circle random ads for things we might like to buy in the classifieds and then never follow up. We do these little things. But what do they all mean or add up to? Who knows? Read the story here at the Apple Valley Review.