On "Icewater" by William Walsh (3483 words) ***

Here's a sort of old-fashioned story. Nicely wrought prose with well-wrought characters. Walsh uses names that play on words the way that Thomas Pyncheon or Joseph Heller do. In his portrayal, Dirty Tungsten and her mother, Vida, come across like the love-struck daughter and concerned matriarch that they are. Moper Fax, the object of that love, is an oddity (sort of vegetarian, intent on making sure his future wife can make ice water properly)--but a lovable one. You can read more about them here at Wheelhouse.