Well here we are at the end of another publication year with The New Yorker, and it’s a unique issue/situation! This week’s issue doesn’t contain any new fiction, which happens from time to time, giving us an opportunity to revisit some older work. In this case, the magazine has George Saunders’ “I Can Speak!™,” which was originally published in the June 21 & 28, 1999 issue and then collected in In Persuasion Nation. I haven’t read this story since the collection came out, but I remember it being one of the main reasons I was a big Saunders fan. I wouldn’t mind revisiting it, so I’ll create its own post. The other story it appears they are reprinting is Jonathan Lethem’s “Super Goat Man,” first printed in the March 28, 2004 issue. The weird thing is that I see this story on my app edition of the magazine but not on the website itself. If you get the print edition, please let me know if it’s included.

But, included on the website but not in the print edition is this novella by essayist John Jeremiah Sullivan. I’m a big fan of Sullivan’s essays, which are reflective and thoughtful and wonderfully crafted. This is, I think, his first published piece of fiction. I figure it’s worth checking out!

So please comment below if you end up reading it, and let me know whether you liked it or not!