"No Gold Rush," by Alta Ifland

This story walks the line between fable and philosophy complete with an unreliable mustached peasant. It poses questions about the nature of love, the beloved and the lover, the object and the subject.  There is an alchemic quality to the story that leaves the reader pondering questions like, what did that mean, and do I believe this story-teller?  When the narrator reveals “that we are nothing but molecules of being completely cut off from each other, and that in order to make existence bearable we have been inventing fictions since the dawn of time, fooling ourselves that something like “love” existed, when in fact the only thing that exists are our skin and bones,” the reader deftly moves with her through the worlds of prosaic experience and ideas.  I’m reminded of the Calvino novel, Invisible Cities, a wonderful mix of fiction and geography of the world. If you like Calvino, you’ll love this story. If you are not familiar with him, give this story a try here at Identity Theory. 

"Third Lesson," by Summer Block Kumar

As a kid I delighted in staying outside once the summer sun went down and felt a wild connection to nature, the damp air, the prickly grass, the other kids running around playing tag and screaming. Joy in the moment had intimations of immortality! This story evokes a childhood delight in spinning around outside in the dark until she and her sister would float and fall down on the ground that would “bob and bow like a sailboat” under them. But the story is deeply sad running over memory and present moment with language that mines the connections between experience and feelings. Read it here at Identity Theory.

"First to Go," by Constance Squires

This November 9 will be the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I had been in Berlin before and after the fall. Americans, including myself, have complicated myths about Germans and Nazis. This story taps into our mutual and complex history and values. The culture of Nazis and punk rockers delivered by Constance Squires is captured with graphic plot and characters. It is a good read begging for more. In fact, this reader wonders if there might be a novel in the making given the sweep of character history alluded to in the story. The topic is timely, readers will be prompted to ask questions regarding social ethics, and the story is available here at Identity Theory.