On "Doppelganger" by Mark Crimmins (247 words) ***

Here's a fun one about the person who looks like you. Such has happened to me quite often--dentists claiming I walk by their office every day around noon, roommates angry at me because they wave hello to me on campus and I don't wave back, and so on. Well, here's one thing that could happen, here, at Pif.

(After today, Short Story Reader will become irregular in presentation, rather than every three days or four days or five days, as I have been gradually slowing down. I'll still try to update folks on my reading and present great stories, but life has gotten hectic in the past two years such that I no longer have the time to devote to blogging as regularly as I once did. Look for entries about once every week or two or three. Thanks to all those who have been regular readers through the +7.5 years.)

On "North of Center" by Mimi Vaquer (571 words) ***

Here's a quick one that stuns by being frightful at the same time that it is so innocent. Staying over at a friend's house could be weird, especially for the first time. Each family has its own set of rituals. Some families I felt like I blended in with better than others. Some were extremely formal and had all kinds of strange rules; others seemed more friendly, seemed, in fact, so cool that you almost wished at times that this was your own family. Vaquer's story recounts another sleepover--one that's not like either of the two types above. Read the story here at Pif.

On "Different Turns" by Derek Alger (1073 words) ***

Here's a rather simply piece, revolving around, well, "different turns," as the title says. What of a life we could have had? What of a life we could have had if we'd had more information? I feel like this quite often, as I get older. If I'd only known . . . But one learns with time, learns what things mean, how to interpret certain body language and certain words. And it seems that one just keeps learning. Only in hindsight does what we "should have done" become clear. Read one such story here at Pif.

On "Remember Guernica" by Kate Gale (2495 words) ****

I was lamenting the other day the lack of a real rule book when it comes to relationships, the fact that you can't really tell what's going on until it's too late, till everything has fallen apart or somehow you're involved with this person you never intended to be involved with and it's no good. If only life were a book--or a play or a movie--if you knew where the drama was, where it was going to end, or end up. These are essentially the obsessions of the kid at the heart of "Remember Guernica." But perhaps not all experiences are worth the art that comes out of them. Read the story here at Pif.

On "The Thespian" by Bruce J. Friedman (7124 words) ****

One of my favorite F. Scott Fitzgerald books is The Pat Hobby Stories, a collection of stories about a washed-up hack of a screenwriter. From what I've read by critics, these stories are not considered to be Fitzgerald at his best. And certainly the stories pale in comparison to his great works. But they're fun, and put together, they create a real feel for a particular character and time. Friedman's story "The Thespian" seems reminiscent of the Fitzgerald pieces--a story of a burnt-out screenwriter given a shot at a film that turns out to be much less than things he would like--and much less than his gloriful past. For whatever reason, I'm quite often drawn to stories of people on the way down. Perhaps that's because even when we're succeeding, there's always a feeling that what we're doing isn't grand enough. Maybe it's just the movies that do it to us, the way they make everything seem more important and beautiful than our real and largely insignificant lives. Read the story here at Pif.

On "The Harvest" by Amy Hemphill (1927 words) *****

This classic story, which appears in Hemphill's second collection and first appeared in The Quarterly, is available online for everyone's perusal via Pif. What makes Hemphill's writing so amazing is how much she manages to get out of her sparse use of language. Read a story three times longer, and you'll almost certainly get less than what you'll get here. How does she do it? I'm not quite sure--lots of details help, and unique ones at that, but one feels after reading Hemphill's fiction that another eight thousand words were left in a previous draft somewhere and all for the better. This story revolves around an accident, but really it's about "harvesting," about where writers get their stories. Read it here.

On "You Know" by R. A. Rycraft (1640 words) ***

What I like about this piece is its strong narrative voice. That alone is what kept me reading it through all three pages. The waitress is believable, and what she's fascinated by, therefore, fascinated me--because not every customer one deals with is all that interesting. The ending is quiet, and as with much literary fiction, I'm not sure this all adds up too much, but getting there was fun. Read the story here.

On "Kept" by Kirsten Clodfelter (530 words) ***

The situation is ordinary enough--unfortunately. An older married man--a professor--and a younger woman. The young woman likes the older man, is becoming, one might say, addicted to him. What is nice about this short piece is the quiet way it puts for the woman's longing, particularly in the last paragraph. She wants to see him more, this is obvious, but she knows not to ask too much. Her real desire, however, is shown in what she does in those final lines. It's mutedly sad. Read the story here.