Mack!

by Colin Winnette, Halimah Marcus (Foreword)

In a certain light “Mack!” is a straightforward story of enthusiastic and devoted family man on a trip to Dallas to buy some records. (After his wife reasonably protests, but doesn’t veto him taking the day off work for the trip, he proclaims, “My wife is really something special. She’s a smart, special lady, and I goddamn love her to the max.”) In another light it’s about insincerity and denial, in yet another it’s about a psychotic break and fear of dying, and in another still it’s a story about me, the reader, being manipulated by a charismatic and withholding man, who is possibly a lunatic, and definitely has more information that I do. In other words, there’s an “unreliable narrator,” but to call him that would be far less accurate, and far less fun.

- Halimah Marcus, Editor-in-Chief, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading

About the Author: Colin Winnette is the author of several books, including Haints Stay (Two Dollar Radio) and Coyote (Les Figues). His work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Review of Books, Lucky Peach, and The Believer. He lives in San Francisco.

About the Publisher: Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction.

22 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 30, 2015

About the author

Colin Winnette is an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. He is the author of several works of fiction: Revelation (Mutable Sound 2011), Animal Collection (Spork Press 2012), Fondly (Atticus Books 2013), Coyote (Les Figues Press 2015), and Haints Stay (Two Dollar Radio 2015). His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Playboy, Lucky Peach, The American Reader, The Believer, Gulf Coast Magazine, and 9th Letter. He was the winner of Les Figues Press's 2013 NOS Book Contest, for his novel Coyote.