Alex McCullough > Recent Status Updates

(the nine-tailed fox explains - 3.5) the fragmented structure, like a bad soup, didn’t agree with me. but the concept is so good that i can’t give this less than 3 stars. i would’ve benefited from some contextual familiarity with chinese mythology before going in methinks

(howl palace - 4.5) romanticizing alaska again. send aid in the form of caribou burgers

(liberté - 1.5) this story was so dully written that i went an entire page and realized i was reading the words but in my head i was watching veep and i hadn’t processed a single word i’d read. and then i turned the page

(it’s not you - 5) this is one of those stories that reignites my love for reading and writing and everything else for which my love needs the occasional reignition. probably my favorite of the collection so far

(rubberdust - 3.5) went to the noor naga school for mfa metafiction and passed with… walking colors

(the children - 1.5) so straightforward and sterile as to be borderline unreadable. what was the point even

(in the event - 4) *thumbs up emoji*

(this is pleasure - 4.5) the ending is so haunting. they never learn

(something street - 2) i’m sure this is a great story for those who were alive/conscious for the fall of bill cosby and can recognize all the references but i was BORED!!! and CONFUSED!!!

the susanna clarke reference… i will never be free of fucking piranesi

(halloween - 4.5) tales of a twelfth-grade messy bisexual

(the nanny - 5) this story really never gets old

(sibling rivalry - 5) black mirror, you have the opportunity of a lifetime

time for an unfortunately seasonal read

(A Faithful But Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed - 3.25) Funny and voicey but ultimately went nowhere, to the effect of feeling eerie and unbaked where I don’t think it intended to be

(T.C. Boyle, The Apartment - 5) If I were Marie-Thérèse this story would have gone differently and that’s all I’m going to say

(Godmother Tea - 3.75) Girlfailure diaries. Prose was so good it sometimes got tangled up in its own goodness and became needlessly difficult, but! I enjoyed it nevertheless

Black Swans - 4

(Coco - 3.5) Okay sure. The female circumcision and AIDS crises in Africa are exactly like your friend Coco who died. Why the hell not.

(Weird August - 3) Nothing burger story but I’m August’s #1 hater so maybe I’m biased

(Tangoland - 3.5) Best writing of the collection so far but a bit bloated, I fear, and more of a pseudo-essay with a really great short story trapped inside that I would’ve preferred to read instead

(Expensive Regrets - 2) I’m sorry, but this story was such a chore to get through, and the random Israel glazing didn’t help matters

(Self-Enchanted City - 4) STOPPP making me romanticize living in Hollywood!!! I hate the sun!!!!!!!

(Free Tibet - 4.5) There are Veep references everywhere for those with the eyes to see

(Slumming at the Rodeo Gardens - 3.75) The male looksmaxxing epidemic is connected to this but I can’t place my finger on exactly how…

(Jealousy - 3) Okay I might have been misled as to what to expect from this collection because this story is giving undergraduate creative nonfiction workshop

(Terrific Mother - 3.75) An English Lit PhD candidate somewhere is slaving over a thesis on American story collections where the last story is set overseas and what this means for The Economy or something

(People Like That Are the Only People Here - 5) Claudia Osk, your days are numbered.

(Real Estate - 5) Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

(What You Want to Do Fine - 3) A little messy, but very funny