On “The Man from Allston Electric” by Daphne Kalotay (4855 words) ***

"The Man from Allston Electric" deals with longing much like many of Kalotay's other stories do. This time, the longing is in the form of an electrician who comes to check on why an outlet isn't working. Rhea thinks of how much she misses her boyfriend--and has missed out on so many other chances for love. Read the story here at Agni.

On “Calamity” by Daphne Kalotay (4248 words) *****

"Calamity," one of the better stories in the collection of the same name, focuses Rhea's flight to the aforementioned wedding. The plane turns out to have mechanical difficulties, for which Rhea's seat mate blames herself (because she is a jinx with regard to everything). Rhea and the woman become fast friends, however, after Rhea announces to the plane how the woman beside her is responsible. They discuss regrets and secrets, and Rhea learns that her former propriety is because she is a woman, which means she's learned to be quiet in the face of things that demand saying something. Read the story here at Agni.

On "Month to Month" by Sean Gibbon (2647 words) ***

Not so much a tale as a collection of voices, desperate ones. The narrator is a former drinker trying to stay sober--a biker. Archie is too--and a painter. Tyler--a former contractor. All of them had potential. All of them are older and seemingly going nowhere, settled, except perhaps Archie. He's still working at it, and maybe that's what makes for an artist. Read the story here at Agni.

On "The Whale Hunter" by Steinur Bell (4502 words) ***

This story starts off slow, telling us about, well, puffins--and puffin hunters. It could be some article in National Geographic. But I think that's kind of the point. Our narrator learns these things, and then he puts them into being, makes a story of them, pushes that story as far as it can go, waits to see how people will react. I do the same myself, sometimes--not lying--but rather doing something a little bit strange, waiting to see when someone will finally call me out--or if they will. It's an exercise in amusement, amusement for the one doing the performing, who is really in fact the audience studying the audience that is performing. But here our narrator takes it to yet another level. Not only does he tell this crazy story, he lives a life of pushing himself to the limits of propriety, seeing when the curtain will be dropped. Thing is, he waits. And waits. And waits. How much farther can he go? Read the story here at Agni.

On "The Price of a Haircut" by Brock Clarke (5024 words) ****

Brock Clarke has been tearing up the literary scene for few years now, and a nice thing about his work is that much of it is available online, in case you're too cheap to buy his books. Of course, you'll miss out on some of his best fiction that way ("For Those of Us Who Need Such Things" and "The Fat," for instance). Most of Clarke's fiction centers around men in crises who, generally, fail to measure up--and the men in this story seem to fall right into that line. This story is also one of the first in which I've seen Clarke address larger historical moments, in addition to the social issues that he has sometimes previously addressed. Read the story here.