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The Rag, Issue 3: Spring 2012
We are a quarterly electronic magazine, publishing contemporary short fiction, poetry and art. The Rag features the true grit of the literary world. Our writers never pull their punches, creating work that's unfiltered, sometimes raunchy and never stale.
The spring season, with its connotations of rebirth and renewal, would seem like a good time for The Rag to show a kinder, gentler side. Perhaps that's why the selections in this issue focus on family life--albeit with a distinctly Rag-ish twist. Parent-child, husband-wife: these relationships are examined, twisted, and perverted until the gritty underbelly of family life is fully exposed.
On another level, many of the selections in the spring issue deal with barriers to communication--fear, guilt, shame, selfishness, technology and language itself--all of these are lurking about, either at the surface or hidden in the depths.
Of course, these stories and poems can mean different things to different people. That's what makes good literature: depth of thought, multiple layers, with themes that are broad and subtle, rather than narrow and blunt. That's what we look for when we select the writing we want to share with our readers, and we hope you enjoy these stories and poems as much as we do.
Short Fiction:
"Lily" by Jonathan Vatner
"How 'Bout it Mr. Twain" by Nancy Hill
"That Thing with the Dog" by Ben Schwartz
"Sweatpants" by Ben Cornell
"Pseudonymous" by Tony Zito
"The Final Reel" by Rachel S. Thomas-Medwid
"Silence" by Isaac Savage
"In-World" by Joel Higgins
Poetry:
"The Story of a Cold Bud" by Olatundji Akpo-Sani
"le salamander" by Matt Forever
"pa pa power" by Dan Guerra
"Aperture" by Kalyna Leigh
The spring season, with its connotations of rebirth and renewal, would seem like a good time for The Rag to show a kinder, gentler side. Perhaps that's why the selections in this issue focus on family life--albeit with a distinctly Rag-ish twist. Parent-child, husband-wife: these relationships are examined, twisted, and perverted until the gritty underbelly of family life is fully exposed.
On another level, many of the selections in the spring issue deal with barriers to communication--fear, guilt, shame, selfishness, technology and language itself--all of these are lurking about, either at the surface or hidden in the depths.
Of course, these stories and poems can mean different things to different people. That's what makes good literature: depth of thought, multiple layers, with themes that are broad and subtle, rather than narrow and blunt. That's what we look for when we select the writing we want to share with our readers, and we hope you enjoy these stories and poems as much as we do.
Short Fiction:
"Lily" by Jonathan Vatner
"How 'Bout it Mr. Twain" by Nancy Hill
"That Thing with the Dog" by Ben Schwartz
"Sweatpants" by Ben Cornell
"Pseudonymous" by Tony Zito
"The Final Reel" by Rachel S. Thomas-Medwid
"Silence" by Isaac Savage
"In-World" by Joel Higgins
Poetry:
"The Story of a Cold Bud" by Olatundji Akpo-Sani
"le salamander" by Matt Forever
"pa pa power" by Dan Guerra
"Aperture" by Kalyna Leigh
132 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 8, 2012
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 5, 2013
So this is my third issue of The Rag. Again, there were no fabulous stories, but overall I thought this issue was better than the other two that I had read (with the exception of the Zeke story in the most recent issue). I was not inspired by the artwork in this issue at all...it was just pictures of buildings and birds mostly and it did not really seem to coalesce at all with the stories. The theme of this issue was family and child/parent relationships, there was also a birthday motif throughout.
Lily: I like this one, I thought that it captured the simultaneous guilt and resentment that we can feel towards our kids.
The Story of a Cold Bud: I wasn't impressed with this poem, it was a commentary on class and alcoholism and anyway I'm not a big poetry lover.
How 'Bout it Mr. Twain: I wasn't really compelled by this story, but it was interesting. Slightly unbelievable that the boy would be able to exist so much on his own.
That Thing with the Dog: The mother in this story had absolutely no backbone. It was interesting to think about the power a child could have if essentially ignored, but it was just a bit too much in my opinion.
le salamander: So this was not really a poem or a short story, just a mesh of stream of consciousness almost. I didn't really like it.
Sweatpants: I liked the subtlety in this story. We know that Bill is a bad influence and that he is an odd duck, but it is not until the end that we learn that the main character's father is also a drunk and as the reader sees the jealousy over Bill's relationship and ease with the main character's father that it comes clear that the main character is probably seen by others the same way that Bill is seen by them.
Pseudonymous: I didn't like this story. It seemed pointless. Essentially the commentary is don't judge others because we all have our mental issues. Ugh.
pa pa power: best line in the poem: "power will continue to hopscotch through the avenues of the city". It was okay and the idea that power is not static is certainly true.
The Final Reel: This was my favorite. I liked that the story unfolded through the movies. I liked that the transvestitism and gay-ness were not resolved. And I really liked that the adultery (or almost adultery) which was the main plot point went unmentioned in the end. Life itself is so anti-climatic. It also had two great quotes: "A world of authenticity, Althea understands, might inherently be a darker place to live, but at least people would cease to be disappointed" and "What they cannot see--no one ever does--is the blatant fact that loneliness has nothing to do with being alone."
Silence: This story was not compelling or believable. It was believable that they would lose the kid. Not so much that they'd leave the beach. I was also unconvinced by the parent's affection for each other.
Aperture: A poem. Interesting description of the rough housing of boys; as a mom of two boys it seemed accurate, nothing special.
In-World: This was just weird. Virtual reality taken to the next level; I like that Ethan did not want to go to the virtual world to escape his paralysis and that Cynthia left him when she realized that he was accepting his new identity. That seemed plausible and unexpected.
Lily: I like this one, I thought that it captured the simultaneous guilt and resentment that we can feel towards our kids.
The Story of a Cold Bud: I wasn't impressed with this poem, it was a commentary on class and alcoholism and anyway I'm not a big poetry lover.
How 'Bout it Mr. Twain: I wasn't really compelled by this story, but it was interesting. Slightly unbelievable that the boy would be able to exist so much on his own.
That Thing with the Dog: The mother in this story had absolutely no backbone. It was interesting to think about the power a child could have if essentially ignored, but it was just a bit too much in my opinion.
le salamander: So this was not really a poem or a short story, just a mesh of stream of consciousness almost. I didn't really like it.
Sweatpants: I liked the subtlety in this story. We know that Bill is a bad influence and that he is an odd duck, but it is not until the end that we learn that the main character's father is also a drunk and as the reader sees the jealousy over Bill's relationship and ease with the main character's father that it comes clear that the main character is probably seen by others the same way that Bill is seen by them.
Pseudonymous: I didn't like this story. It seemed pointless. Essentially the commentary is don't judge others because we all have our mental issues. Ugh.
pa pa power: best line in the poem: "power will continue to hopscotch through the avenues of the city". It was okay and the idea that power is not static is certainly true.
The Final Reel: This was my favorite. I liked that the story unfolded through the movies. I liked that the transvestitism and gay-ness were not resolved. And I really liked that the adultery (or almost adultery) which was the main plot point went unmentioned in the end. Life itself is so anti-climatic. It also had two great quotes: "A world of authenticity, Althea understands, might inherently be a darker place to live, but at least people would cease to be disappointed" and "What they cannot see--no one ever does--is the blatant fact that loneliness has nothing to do with being alone."
Silence: This story was not compelling or believable. It was believable that they would lose the kid. Not so much that they'd leave the beach. I was also unconvinced by the parent's affection for each other.
Aperture: A poem. Interesting description of the rough housing of boys; as a mom of two boys it seemed accurate, nothing special.
In-World: This was just weird. Virtual reality taken to the next level; I like that Ethan did not want to go to the virtual world to escape his paralysis and that Cynthia left him when she realized that he was accepting his new identity. That seemed plausible and unexpected.
June 28, 2013
These stories are not to be read if you're looking for something whimsical and fun. If, however, you want something dark and depressing, then I highly recommend this edition.
The underlying theme is a slightly darker form of the dysfunctional family. I'm either paying a compliment or insult when I say that the authors must have collectively all had miserable upbringings or terribly failed relationships. The writing conveys all of the negative aspects of failed parenting, or unhappy relationships quite well. Nothing felt forced or made up. At times, some of the stories felt cathartic or autobiographical. Like, they couldn't voice their displeasures in real life, so they wrote it down and changed the names. I understand that's what a lot of fiction is anyway, so it's not a criticism.
Basically, I'm warning you. The stuff inside is short, but the commentary and atmosphere are very real, and if your childhood sucked, or you currently hate your spouse in secret, you might not want to read this.
The underlying theme is a slightly darker form of the dysfunctional family. I'm either paying a compliment or insult when I say that the authors must have collectively all had miserable upbringings or terribly failed relationships. The writing conveys all of the negative aspects of failed parenting, or unhappy relationships quite well. Nothing felt forced or made up. At times, some of the stories felt cathartic or autobiographical. Like, they couldn't voice their displeasures in real life, so they wrote it down and changed the names. I understand that's what a lot of fiction is anyway, so it's not a criticism.
Basically, I'm warning you. The stuff inside is short, but the commentary and atmosphere are very real, and if your childhood sucked, or you currently hate your spouse in secret, you might not want to read this.
January 18, 2016
With the third issue, The Rag shakes off the last vestiges of a nascent and self-searching publication and enters the arena of forceful and provocative literature. The most-noticeable characteristic of the newest issue comes from its cohesiveness--more than just the theme of the selection of stories, but also the voice predominant throughout the magazine. It maintains its vigorous adherence to hard-hitting, gritty stories that will jar the reader from any semblance of passivity.
The third issue complements a gallery of previous authors with new writers. The art glamorizes. The language enthralls. Welcome to the cutting edge of literature.
The third issue complements a gallery of previous authors with new writers. The art glamorizes. The language enthralls. Welcome to the cutting edge of literature.
June 13, 2013
The stories, poems, and artwork in this issue have a fierce, tragic beauty. They remind the reader of the fragility of human beings and shatter the image of the idyllic 2 1/2 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat, picket-fence family. These are not heartwarming pieces, they are pieces that may make you uncomfortable, that may make you cringe; but they are worth reading because they are well-written, challenge assumptions, and have a hard-hitting immediacy.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews