
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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You Must Be Middle-Aged and Jaded to Ride the Torrent River
"Robinson Crusoe at the Waterpark" by Elizabeth McCracken, recommended by Matt Bell

Long Live the Girl Detective
A new short story by Megan Pillow, recommended by Electric Literature

The Post-Divorce Catharsis of Chopping Wood
"Lumberjack Mom" by Carribean Fragoza, recommended by Brian Evenson

The Commuter
A single piece of poetry, flash, graphic, or experimental narrative arriving every Monday morning.
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ISSUE No. 164
My Close Attention Is My Boyfriend’s Undoing
Apr 19 - Karen Heuler
Eating Well Is About More Than Sustenance
Two poems by Patricia No

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Genderless Mollusk
"Black Arion," a short story by Charlie J. Stephens

Sometimes I Wish We Were a Beagle
Two poems by Chad Foret

POPULAR in RECOMMENDED READING & THE COMMUTER
Lit Mags
Mixing Politics and Sex with the Diplomat Next Door
Apr 14 - Mira Sethi
Lit Mags
The Great Silence by Ted Chiang
Oct 12 - Ted Chiang
Lit Mags
You Must Be Middle-Aged and Jaded to Ride the Torrent River
Apr 7 - Elizabeth McCracken
Lit Mags
Long Live the Girl Detective
Mar 31 - Megan Pillow
More Issues
Your Only Job Is to Ignore That Phone
"The Temporary Job," a short story by Hannah Gersen

Once a Sarah, Always a Sarah
"Sarahland" by Sam Cohen, recommended by Andrea Lawlor

Spring’s a Love Note and I’m Lonely as Hell
"Bouquet #1" and "What I Have Tried to Say to You," two poems by Christine Sneed

Our Relationship is Doomed in Every Universe
"The Volunteer" from Cosmogony by Lucy Ives, recommended by Tracy O'Neill

Keep Your Entrails out of My Baby Shower
"Eating for Two," a fiction debut by Kate Francia

The Perfect Housewarming Gift is White-Hot Envy
"The Vase" by Rumena Bužarovska, recommended by Electric Literature
