A small look into a man’s widowed life, an author working on a novel, avoiding his former life.
Author
Caleb Crain
Publication
The New Yorker, December 11, 2023
Date Read
December 17, 2023
The Ghosts of Gloria Lara
A Dominican immigrant recalls his early days in America around 1980. It’s a story about family and the secrets they endure.
Author
Junot Diaz
Publication
The New Yorker, November 6, 2023
Date Read
December 6, 2023
According to Alice
What in the hell was that? A story about God and creation with no real narrative other than someone, like a child, explaining humans and our evolution, especially from a religious viewpoint. Interesting, for sure, but not very coherent. The child was spawned by a robot alien to a human mother? Weird. Then at the end, it’s revealed that this is a conversation with Chat GPT and the prompts have been removed.
Author
Sheila Heti
Publication
The New Yorker, November 20, 2023
Date Read
November 26, 2023
Beauty Contest
A young girl is entered into a beauty contest by her mother who hangs onto a memory of the girl winning a contest as a baby. She’s fixated on her doing this, but the contest doesn’t go as she planned. A glimpse into a mother daughter relationship that shows what drives a mother and how daughters will go to lengths to please them.
Author
Yoko Ogawa
Publication
The New Yorker, November 27, 2023
Date Read
November 25, 2023
Our Time is Up
A story growing old with someone you maybe don’t belong with. Age and family.
Author
Claire Sestanovich
Publication
The New Yorker, November 14, 2023
Date Read
November 12, 2023