On “Zilkowski's Theorem” by Karl Iagnemma (7438 words) *****

“Zilkowski's Theorem” is about a man who is in such love with a woman that he essentially sacrifices his relationship, his reputation, and his career for her--even though the man she loves is the narrator's former roommate and friend. Watching this happen--and trying to figure out why (even as the man himself tries to figure out why)--is the great pleasure of the story. Why does "love" cause us to do such crazy things? Read the story here at Zoetrope.

On "The Shared Patio" by Miranda July (3076 words) ****

No one I know writes quite like Miranda July. That is a good thing--for Miranda July and for her readers. I mean, would she be quite the fun writer she is if 582 other people wrote exactly like her? Not likely. Fun writers are fun because they are unique, which means that even if there are 582 other writers exactly like her, we don't know about them, and so we love Miranda July.

In "The Shared Patio," we get the tale of a lonely woman who dreams of an affair with her thoroughly average narrator. Possibly this woman has HIV. Certainly, she works for a company that prints a brochure on HIV, and she tries to have positive thoughts about everything in her world, even though she's a complete social misfit. But she shares a patio. We all share patios. Even if we don't belong on them. We share them. Everything is good. Because of patios, which we share. We, the patio users. See what I mean. Read the story here at Zoetrope.

On "We Were Champions" by April Wilder (8123 words) ***

Baseball and pigs. Those are two of the central components of this story. Interesting fiction often comes from the juxtaposition of things that seem to have nothing to do with one another--as an author, it's fun to find the connection, and as a reader, how the author finds that connection is fun to read. In this piece, it's an all-girl baseball team and a coach who takes advantage of his squad. It's a pig years later, roasted on a spit, among people who know nothing about roasting such things (just how does one connect the pig to the pole?). It's Sammy Sosa and why we sympathize with him, even though he's a cheater--for that matter, why these girls might sympathize with a coach who's such a rascal. Read the story here at Zoetrope.