Review of “The Retch”
Jane Wageman of the Mid-American Review penned a short blog post about why my story “The Retch” was chosen for a forthcoming issue of the journal, and I couldn’t be more pleased—who wouldn’t, with an indirect comparison to David Barthelme by way of George Saunders?
I’ve excerpted some of my favourite quotes below:
“Dom’s language is striking, with attention to sensory details that make even the impossible feel physically real... The poetic syntax, alongside the story’s absurdity, renders the familiar conflicts of domestic life unfamiliar and therefore new.”
“The patterns and surprises of “The Retch” accelerate the story forward in unexpected, but nonetheless fitting, directions. The ending [...] provokes questions about Queenie’s relationship to the domestic sphere and her family, particularly things she has kept inside herself that ultimately must come out, however messy and unpleasant that might be.”
You can read the full post here.