Mac Crane is the author of i keep my exoskeletons with me And an intense endless need. His latest book is Distorted: Stories, From The Dial Press on 7th July. Below, he suggests short stories for perverts.
When I think about stories I would recommend for perverts, I think they could be about anything at their core. i.e. they don’t do it to pass Being sexual or aggressive, however often they occur. To me, they have to be courageous and fearless; They have to be confident and big-hearted. They don’t care what you think. They are fearless in their pursuit of emotional truths, an energy that is, admittedly, highly sensual.
The New Narrative movement embodies a kind of distortion of which I am fond. In the introduction to the collection Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative 1977-1997 Edited by Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian, the editors wrote of the movement: “This will be a writing driven neither by mandate nor by consensus, nor by the blanket suggestions of the MFA ‘program era’, but by community; it will be unafraid of experimentation, unafraid of kitsch, unafraid of sex and gossip and political debate.” That’s the energy I’m bringing to this recommendation list.
“Agatha’s Letter” by Camille Roy
As a key member of the New Narrative Movement, Roy is a must-read. “Agatha Letters,” the first story of his latest story, honey mineStarts with the question: “Is it all perspective? Happiness, I mean – wonder in the dark. I think it’s different for everyone.” And then it switches to third-person POV: “Camille found it empty and refreshing, because she was.” The story, which is experimental in nature, is sensual and practical, tragic and fearless. And I’m troubled by POV shifts as they relate to distortion, truth, and how we craft stories about ourselves.
“On the Boardwalk” by Robert Glueck
Gluck is another founding member of the New Narrative movement and one of my favorite writers of all time. At the beginning of the story, narrator Bob asks, “What is the desire to penetrate? It takes shape as an empty shell.” The story then proceeds to layer question upon question upon question – about the nature of desire, the objects of our desire, trust, betrayal and much more.
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“Boyfriend #666 / Satanist” and “This Day and Many More” by Brontë Purnell.
Okay, I know it’s cheating to include two stories, but they were published together barcelona review (Also in his novel 100 boyfriends)And I guess that gives me the right to buy a two-for-one for myself. Not many people write body fact like Purnell, and with such range at that: in her stories, you’ll find frustration and anger, humor and wit, longing and pain, ugliness and beauty, body fluids and bone killers – and as always, slut, slut, and more slut.
“Moon Over Denny-Blaine” by Max Delsohn
Although Delsohn’s story is about queer people reclaiming their place and the collective power in that reclaiming, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s all the better for it. It’s funny, weird, and smart and includes a memorable exchange in which a character says, “You can’t cheat on me. It’s a nude beach!” And the other one says, “Yes, I can. Mooning is a construct.”
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