Short story: “Cats and Dogs”

“Cats and Dogs,” by Joy Williams

Appeared in Catapult, September 8th, 2015; collected in The Visiting Privilege

4352 words

Lush surrealism. Or hyperrealism? Everything that happens is possible but implausible. The overall feel of the story reminds me of “The Girls,” and I didn’t realize until just now that it’s by the same author.

On shame

“No one ever told me to be ashamed. Especially not before the first time, not when I was so very young. But then, no one had to tell me it was wrong to collect butterfly wings either. All they had to do was take them from me, simply make me aware by virtue of their unexplained absence that someone else knew, and I never touched another wing again.”

—“A Chronology of Touch,” by Kayla Whaley (x)

Literary fiction publication: Granta

What:	Granta, quarterly literary magazine, print and online
When:	1889 to present
Who:	Edited by Sigrid Rausing; connected with Granta Books
How:	Subscriptions start at $40
$:	Pays $400 per online story; not sure about print
Typefaces:	The website font appears to be Plantin

Circulation: 23,000. Erika Krouse files Granta under “Tier 2, Elite litmags with HIGHER circulation: career changers[.]”

This is one magazine I’ve gotten excited about lately because of the online fiction. There are so many free stories and so many of them are good.

Standouts:

• “The Liar,” by James Tadd Adcox (2016)
• “Waxy,” by Camilla Grudova (2016)
• “How We Got Mother Back,” by Valério Romão, as translated from Portuguese by Jethro Soutar (2013)
• “Human Moments in World War III,” by Don DeLillo (1983)

Literary fiction publication: The Gettysburg Review

What:	The Gettysburg Review, a quarterly print and digital literary magazine
When:	1988 to present
Who:	Published by Gettysburg CollegeEditor: Mark Drew Managing Editor: Jess Bryant Marketing & Circulation Manager: Kristin Koontz Editorial Assistants: Drew Ciminera, Christopher Kempf, Jeff Mock, Margot Schilpp, Corey Van Landingham, Mindy Wilson Interns: Ivy-Rose Kramer, Jahnvi Ramaiya, Mikki Stacey, Nicole Cvjetnicanin Founding Editor: Peter Stitt Advisory & Contributing Editors: Lee K. Abbott, Rita Dove, Rebecca McClanahan, Leslie Pietryzk, Philip Schultz, Paul Zimmer
How:	Sells subscriptions ($35 for one year of print), issues, T-shirts, also advertising
$:	Duotrope says, “Pay ranges from Semi-pro payment (1-4.9 US cents per word) to Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word)”; Erika Krouse says $30.00 per page
Typefaces:	?

Circulation: 4,000. Erika Krouse ranks it as “Tier 3, Elite litmags with SMALLER circulation[.]”

According to Wikipedia, Ron Tanner said in 1994 that Gettysburg Review stories “are clearly in the mainstream of contemporary American fiction—you will not find ‘experimental’ work in the Gettysburg Review.” The journal itself says, “Aesthetically, we are open to most styles and approaches and are always interested in stories, whether more traditional or experimental, that are off-beat, penetrating, and surprising.” They go on to say, “We do not publish genre fiction—mystery, crime, science fiction, fantasy, and the like—but are certainly not opposed to considering work that self-consciously employs the tropes of formulaic writing for more sophisticated literary ends”—even though they’ve had stories anthologized in Best American Mystery Stories.

Standouts:

• “Miracles and Conundrums of the Secondary Planets,” by Jacob M. Appel (2010)

Novel excerpt: “Lincoln in the Bardo”

“Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders

Appeared in Granta 138: Journeys, without any indication until the end that it wasn’t a short story, which is how I ended up reading it

1267 words

I don’t know what that was, but I liked it.