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”…they knew they were doing what they had to do, and as Dave pointed out, that they were walking instead of driving was a testimony to their seriousness of purpose. Besides, Dave said, there was something biblical and symbolic about their walking, and Wyatt agreed that he couldn’t really imagine Moses driving around the desert for forty years in a detailed truck with running boards and cupholders.”—Brock Clarke, “The Apology.” .
Strong needs are met—and not met—in a diverse trio of tales.
The characters in the three stories presented on this program just need someone to satisfy their wants--an apology for an old wrong; a good office chair; fly balls at dusk to keep the world away. Strong feelings lie just under the surface in these very different contemporary tales.
In our first story, Brock Clarke’s, “The Apology,” two displaced, unemployed Americans want an apology from the Catholic Church for abuse they suffered as children, and wonder how much they have let an old wrong define them. Brock Clarke’s latest book has the wonderfully fanciful title, AN ARSONIST’S GUIDE TO WRITERS’ HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND. The reader is stage and screen star Stephen Lang.
We had fun creating a SELECTED SHORTS evening focused on workplace shenanigans, office comedy and drama. Who gets the corner office, and who rates a fancy comfortable desk chair can be matters of great import in the white collar working world. Joshua Ferris’s story “The Chairs” is funny cautionary tale. It is read by the singer, actress, and Thalia Follies Political Cabaret star, Ivy Austin.
We complete this program with George Garrett’s “Feeling Good, Feeling Fine.” George Garrett is the Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia, and his many books include Empty Bed Blues and Double Vision In this story, “Feeling Good, Feeling Fine,” Garrett pulls off the deft and amazing narrative feat of letting us know what will happen to his characters in the future, while capturing a memorable portrait of them at a present moment, when they cannot know what is coming, and we do. This poignant and unsettling short story is read for us by Tony-Award winner B.D. Wong. “The Apology” by Brock Clarke, read by Stephen Lang “The Chairs” by Joshua Ferris, read by Ivy Austin “Feeling Good, Feeling Fine” by George Garrett, read by BD Wong
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space For information about the 2009 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize contest, go to http://www.symphonyspace.org/shorts/writing_contest
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