fwriction

I’m not going to lie: I have fallen in love with Emma Straub and her writing. After getting my hands on her debut, Fly-Over State, during a recent raid of Bookcourt, I find myself drawn in by Straub’s voice, her vision of the world. She deals with characters in the best possible way, in the way a great writer should: with care.

Today’s Story of the Day comes from FiveChapters.com, a fantastic literary journal that publishes stories in five parts. Enjoy Straub’s “Puttanesca,” because I certainly did:

“Nice to meet you,” Stephen said. His teeth were beautiful products of adolescent orthodontia: straight and well spaced. Rose hadn’t mentioned the teeth. In fact, Rose hadn’t mentioned anything, other than that Stephen too had lost his wife, and was chafing at the uniformity of the (aged, female) participants of the bereavement group he’d been attending. She definitely hadn’t mentioned his shoulders, or his lion’s mane, which crested and cooed at Laura as though it had a voice all its own, each blond curl telling her why this couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t work.