It Doesn't Have to Be a Big Deal

by Rebecca Schiff, Halimah Marcus (Introduction)

“'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is both the title of this sharp, discerning story, and the narrator’s mantra—a phrase born out of equating disaffection with ease, inconsequence with fun," writes Halimah Marcus, Co-Editor of Electric Literature, in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "'Was it fun?' the narrator asks of her relationship with a broke pot grower. She has flown across the country to visit him and since arriving, has footed every bill. 'But we had to do things,' she reasons. 'Otherwise, it wasn’t an experience. It was just sitting in his house.'

"Their relationship has all the trappings of fun—youth, impermanence, caprice. Yet the narrator finds herself dispirited by the grower’s attempts at affection. He props her with pillows, he packs her a fresh bowl, he asks her to be patient.

"In part, 'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is about dating. And what dating is about, as Rebecca reveals with her knockout wit and acerbic prose, is regulating intimacy. Let a little in, keep a little out. 'This was what it was for, dating,' she writes. 'Wet hugs. Jesus jokes. I needed this. I would get high and have this.' Small pleasures, such as those found on a day trip to the hot springs, are permissible. But the narrator’s ultimate goal is to avoid the Big Deals: relationships and choices of untold consequence, the kind of experiences that become unmanageable once set in motion."

15 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Rebecca Schiff is the author of The Bed Moved, a finalist for an LA Times Book Prize for First Fiction. Her stories have appeared in n+1, Electric Literature, Fence, Guernica, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, Lenny Letter, and The Best Small Fictions 2017. She lives in Kingston, NY.

Reviews

[Gina Freyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a new Rebecca Schiff fan! Strong short story. Can't wait to read The Bed Moved: Stories!!!