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In the Between: 21st Century Short Stories
17 stories and 2 comics by established and rising stars in American fiction and graphic narrative Including contributions by Roxane Gay, Alice Hoffman, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Shivana Sookdeo, and Bryan Washington. In the Between presents characters of differing and mixed cultural backgrounds, genders, sexuality, and ableness, some affected by urban gentrification or the decline of their rural town―all striving to forge a future in today’s divided America. Masterful and boldly intimate, these stories urge us to embrace a complex understanding of who we are as a nation and who we can be as individuals. Other contributors are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Maria Anderson, Ryka Aoki, Joy Baglio, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Nancy Fulda, Vanessa Hua, Bryan Hurt, Phil Klay, Mister Loki, Casey Robb, Rion Amilcar Scott, Akhil Sharma, and Robert Anthony Siegel.
240 pages, Paperback
Published April 26, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 3, 2022
None of these are must-reads, but nearly all of them are good.
In Vanessa Hua's "Accepted", a student is unable to accept that Stanford won't admit her. Although the character seems to see her rejection as emblematic of the struggles faced by immigrant families and of the callousness of the elite, the detail that "Stanford was the only school to which [she had] applied" makes it read more like a story about an individual with a psychotic level of obsession and entitlement.
In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck", an immigrant from Nigeria navigates a relationship with a cringe-inducing guy who has a fetish for everything African. I appreciate that the story sees the possibility of progress and meaningful connection within that relationship, however slow and incomplete.
Rion Amilcar Scott's "Juba" starts with a scene of police violence that will make your blood boil, and ends with an unexpected turn into
Ryka Aoki's "To the New World" considers the inner struggles and insecurities of a Vietnamese-American trans woman, and her relationship with a supposedly-woke but frustratingly narrow-minded friend. (I feel the need to comment on the sentence beginning: "She really was sad that she had been born with male privilege..." It's one thing to be sad about the existence of oppression and inequity, but it's fucked up when the people around you insinuate that you should feel guilty about your genes.) The protagonist finds a lovely point of connection between herself and her late grandmother despite their radically different lives.
Phil Klay's "After Action Report" explores the emotions of soldiers who kill a child who was shooting at them. I didn't actually understand what was being implied at the end, so if you read it and do, please enlighten me.
Joy Baglio's "Ron" has probably the most memorable premise in the collection - It presents a view of modern dating that's very alien to my own experiences (except in it being fundamentally dismal, which I think we can all agree on).
Alice Hoffman's "In the Trees" is a grim but poetically-written account of the impact of regressive attitudes toward women on a teenage girl's life.
In Akhil Sharma's "Surrounded by Sleep", a young Hindu boy searches for answers in religion after a tragedy befalls his family. One thing that struck me, reflecting on the commonalities between his attempts to negotiate with and placate the gods and my own attempts as a young Christian, is how some of our religious impulses seem to come from a conviction that we should be able to achieve the same sort of reciprocity with the universe that we have with each other in society. An impulse which tells us that if we're being harmed, someone must be harming us, and we need to repair our relationship with them so that they will stop.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz's "The Art of Translation" focuses on the protagonist's search for an adequate way to express himself after a brutal hate crime is perpetrated against him.
In Nancy Fulda's "Movement", the protagonist's dad has a "shoulder laser" for automatically zapping mosquitoes. That's not what the story is about, I just needed to call out how awesome that is.
In Bryan Hurt's "Moonless", a sexually frustrated astrophysicist casually creates and destroys worlds in his basement. I don't know what to do with that.
One gripe: I'm starting to lose patience for stories in which the characters are deeply dissatisfied, consider doing something about it, and then just... don't. That describes a few of these, to varying degrees. I did appreciate how addresses and rejects that sort of fatalism.
In Vanessa Hua's "Accepted", a student is unable to accept that Stanford won't admit her. Although the character seems to see her rejection as emblematic of the struggles faced by immigrant families and of the callousness of the elite, the detail that "Stanford was the only school to which [she had] applied" makes it read more like a story about an individual with a psychotic level of obsession and entitlement.
In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck", an immigrant from Nigeria navigates a relationship with a cringe-inducing guy who has a fetish for everything African. I appreciate that the story sees the possibility of progress and meaningful connection within that relationship, however slow and incomplete.
Rion Amilcar Scott's "Juba" starts with a scene of police violence that will make your blood boil, and ends with an unexpected turn into
Ryka Aoki's "To the New World" considers the inner struggles and insecurities of a Vietnamese-American trans woman, and her relationship with a supposedly-woke but frustratingly narrow-minded friend. (I feel the need to comment on the sentence beginning: "She really was sad that she had been born with male privilege..." It's one thing to be sad about the existence of oppression and inequity, but it's fucked up when the people around you insinuate that you should feel guilty about your genes.) The protagonist finds a lovely point of connection between herself and her late grandmother despite their radically different lives.
Phil Klay's "After Action Report" explores the emotions of soldiers who kill a child who was shooting at them. I didn't actually understand what was being implied at the end, so if you read it and do, please enlighten me.
Joy Baglio's "Ron" has probably the most memorable premise in the collection - It presents a view of modern dating that's very alien to my own experiences (except in it being fundamentally dismal, which I think we can all agree on).
Alice Hoffman's "In the Trees" is a grim but poetically-written account of the impact of regressive attitudes toward women on a teenage girl's life.
In Akhil Sharma's "Surrounded by Sleep", a young Hindu boy searches for answers in religion after a tragedy befalls his family. One thing that struck me, reflecting on the commonalities between his attempts to negotiate with and placate the gods and my own attempts as a young Christian, is how some of our religious impulses seem to come from a conviction that we should be able to achieve the same sort of reciprocity with the universe that we have with each other in society. An impulse which tells us that if we're being harmed, someone must be harming us, and we need to repair our relationship with them so that they will stop.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz's "The Art of Translation" focuses on the protagonist's search for an adequate way to express himself after a brutal hate crime is perpetrated against him.
In Nancy Fulda's "Movement", the protagonist's dad has a "shoulder laser" for automatically zapping mosquitoes. That's not what the story is about, I just needed to call out how awesome that is.
In Bryan Hurt's "Moonless", a sexually frustrated astrophysicist casually creates and destroys worlds in his basement. I don't know what to do with that.
One gripe: I'm starting to lose patience for stories in which the characters are deeply dissatisfied, consider doing something about it, and then just... don't. That describes a few of these, to varying degrees. I did appreciate how addresses and rejects that sort of fatalism.
April 21, 2022
I truly love short story collections. I am always in awe of writers who come up with complete stories in 20 pages or less. I’ve read so many that have stayed with me after so many years of reading them. The same could be said about many of the stories in this collection.
I received a copy of this book in the mail out of the blue, and it made me so happy. I had seen a post about it on Twitter and made a note to myself to eventually purchase a copy. Well imagine my surprise when it showed up in my mailbox!
The book is actually pretty short, about 200 pages. There are nineteen stories in the collection, each touching on so many different subjects: dating, a hate crime, being young and free, autism, being trans, science, loneliness, and a few others that make this collection so interesting. I enjoyed pretty much all of the stories and absolutely loved many of them. One of the stories made me feel so hopeful at the end I found myself smiling and imagining the characters achieving their goals and living out the dreams they had for themselves. It’s stories like that one that make me so happy to be a book lover.
I received a copy of this book in the mail out of the blue, and it made me so happy. I had seen a post about it on Twitter and made a note to myself to eventually purchase a copy. Well imagine my surprise when it showed up in my mailbox!
The book is actually pretty short, about 200 pages. There are nineteen stories in the collection, each touching on so many different subjects: dating, a hate crime, being young and free, autism, being trans, science, loneliness, and a few others that make this collection so interesting. I enjoyed pretty much all of the stories and absolutely loved many of them. One of the stories made me feel so hopeful at the end I found myself smiling and imagining the characters achieving their goals and living out the dreams they had for themselves. It’s stories like that one that make me so happy to be a book lover.
June 23, 2022
This collection of stories takes you on such an incredible journey across different experiences in America. You're left wanting more from each of the writers, but thankful for the time you had with each character's experience. Beautifully pulled together, Brice! <3
January 4, 2023
Nothing really specific to say here, some of the stories are good, some are not. I would deem most of them have educational value, however admittedly I would need to go back and reread each individual story again.
August 5, 2022
Mostly 3/5s but a couple solid 5/5s including the first I really liked.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews