In his introduction for this issue, Dennis Johnson, Melville House's Co-Founder and Co-Publisher, writes that while the Barthelme's weren't for everyone, that's what made interesting and genuine. There work, and especially this story, asks, "Am I weird for a reason—i.e., do I have a chance of getting along with anybody?—or am I just weird?"About Recommended Reading:Great authors inspire us. But what about the stories that inspire them? Recommended Reading, the latest project from Electric Literature, publishes one story every week, each chosen by a great author or editor. In this age of distraction, we uncover writing that's worth slowing down and spending some time with. And in doing so, we help give great writers, literary magazines, and independent presses the recognition (and readership) they deserve.About the Author:Steven Barthelme was born in Houston, the son of the celebrated architect Donald Barthelme, Sr. He is the author of the story collection, And He Tells the Little Horse the Whole Story, the essay collection, The Early Posthumous Work, and the co-author, with his brother Frederick, of Double Down: Reflections on Gambling and Loss. He is the director of the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he is also a professor of English. His writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and McSweeney’s. Barthelme won Pushcart Prizes in 1993 and 2005, and in 2004 he won the Texas Institute of Letters Short Story Award for work published in Yale Review.About the Guest Editor:Melville House is an independent publisher with offices in Brooklyn and London. The company is well-known for its fiction, with two Nobel Prize winners on its list: Imre Kertész and Heinrich Böll. In particular, the company has developed a world-wide reputation for its rediscovery of forgotten international writers—its translation of a forgotten work by Hans Fallada, Every Man Dies Alone, launched a world-wide phenomenon. The company also takes pride in its discovery of many first-time writers—such as Tao Lin (Eeeee Eee Eeee), Lars Iyer (Spurious), Lee Rourke (The Canal), and Christopher Boucher (How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive)—who have gone on to success.
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