Glissando

by Katie Bellas, Joshua Henkin (Foreword)

In the editor's note of Recommended Reading 4.3, Joshua Henkin, author of "The World Without You," recommends "Glissando" by Katie "It is just one of the many notable things about 'Glissando' that the writer, Katie Bellas, is in her mid-twenties. There’s none of that jitteriness and showiness so common among young writers. It’s as if Bellas has all the time in the world to peel back the layers of her characters, and this she does, with remarkable precision. 'Glissando' is a story about a middle-aged financial titan on the precipice of professional and personal failure. It’s a story about a congenitally cautious man who behaves incredibly incautiously. It’s a story about a man whose life is falling apart, and Bellas dangles him from a noose, and us along with him."From the "Two weeks ago, Ed put Leigh into a cab headed for LaGuardia to visit her mother. That same night, from his stool by the main door, he watched me get off the elevator at ten-thirty, asked if I needed a cab, to which I gave a thumbs-down. And then I crossed to the west elevator bank and rode to Amelia’s floor. Beyond those facts, I’m not sure what he’s surmised or, knowing Ed, disseminated to other scandal-loving tenants. I can be sure only that Ed, though girlish in his gossipy tendencies, is not ignorant of the basic knowledge all corrupt men share of one the knowledge that a walk across the lobby at ten-thirty at night to a lady-tenant’s apartment is always more than a walk across the lobby at ten-thirty at night to a lady-tenant’s apartment. Regardless of the fact that Amelia is one of Leigh’s closest friends. Regardless of the fact that I’ve never made a walk of that nature across any lobby, ten-thirty at night or otherwise, and feel confident that had I, no one, save Ed, would have suspected adulterous intentions. Regardless of these and any other facts that might render my actions that night innocent."About Recommended authors inspire us. But what about the stories that inspire them? Recommended Reading, the latest project from Electric Literature, publishes one story every week, each chosen by a great author or editor. In this age of distraction, we uncover writing that's worth slowing down and spending some time with. And in doing so, we help give great writers, literary magazines, and independent presses the recognition (and readership) they deserve.About Katie Bellas is a graduate of Duke University and the Fiction MFA program at Brooklyn College. She is the recipient of a fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. She currently lives in Brooklyn.About Joshua Henkin is the author, most recently, of the novel The World Without You, as well as the novels Matrimony, a New York Times Notable Book, and Swimming Across the Hudson, a Los Angeles Times Notable Book. His short stories have been published widely, cited for distinction in Best American Short Stories, and broadcast on NPR’s “Selected Shorts.” He lives in Brooklyn, NY and directs the MFA program in Fiction Writing at Brooklyn College.

28 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2012

About the author

Katie Bellas is a graduate of Duke University and the Fiction MFA program at Brooklyn College. She is the recipient of a fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. She currently lives in Brooklyn.