
Recommended Reading
Recommended Reading is your ultimate source for the best in contemporary fiction, including short stories and novel excerpts from today’s most dynamic voices.
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How to Survive Underground
"Gubeikou Spirit" by Te-Ping Chen, recommended by Madeleine Thien

Don’t Let Anyone Know Mom Ran Away
An excerpt from "American Delirium" by Betina González, recommended by Heather Cleary

Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary Discuss Their Suicides
A new short story by Pauline Melville, recommended by Electric Literature

The Commuter
A single piece of poetry, flash, graphic, or experimental narrative arriving every Monday morning.
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ISSUE No. 157
The Ballad of Existing in Santa Monica
Mar 1 - M. Lopes da Silva
Solving the Riddle of My Mother’s Secret Room
"The Clown Room," a fiction debut by CJ Green

The Infinite Doors at the Center of Myself
Two poems by Sarah Cavar

Whisking Butter with the Best of Them
"Butter" and "Cream," a poetry debut by Eliana Gies

POPULAR in RECOMMENDED READING & THE COMMUTER
Recommended Reading
Dating After the Worst Day of Her Life
Feb 24 - Emma Duffy-Comparone
Lit Mags
The Last Woman On Earth
Feb 17 - Caroline Hadilaksono
Lit Mags
The Ballad of Existing in Santa Monica
Mar 1 - M. Lopes da Silva
Recommended Reading
How to Survive Underground
Feb 17 - Te-Ping Chen
More Issues
Why Don’t You Keep Your True Nature to Yourself
"Ode to Boy," a poem by Mark Anthony Cayanan

The Life Destroying Magic of Parking Lot Sex
"Akira Hirata" by Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi, recommended by Grand Journal

One Fjord Away from a Second Date
"Compaction Birds," a story from "Wild Swims" by Dorthe Nors, translated by Misha Hoekstra

Signs Your Son May Not Get into Harvard
"Chance Me" from Life Among the Terranauts by Caitlin Horrocks, recommended by Ramona Ausubel

All These Houses Full of Opinions
Two poems by Emily Bludworth de Barrios

The Occupational Hazards of Hardboiled Eggs
Chapter One of "The Liar's Dictionary" by Eley Williams, recommended by Max Porter
