Chamblee54

Saïd Sayrafiezadeh (SIGH-eed say-RAH-fiz-ah-dee) is one of the authors featured at The Writer’s Voice, a podcast from The New Yorker. When I went to the library website for my reading fix, I put his name in the search engine. American Estrangement, a collection of his short stories came up. Another result was The Best American Short Stories 2019 – (The Best American Series ®), featuring a story by SS. With short stories you can go from one book to another, skipping over the ones that don’t catch your fancy. It gave me some waiting room distraction for a while. … Today’s appreciation is a drabble-drone. Six paragraphs, 100 words each, with no control over the process once the word counter starts.
A Beginner’s Guide to Estrangement Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Danush Jamshid, aka Danny McDade, goes to Tehran to see his bio-dad for the first time in fifteen years. Many Tehran buildings have large, optimistic murals, commemorating “The imposed war” (jang-e taḥmili) aka The Iran-Iraq war. This conflict cost over a million lives, and is widely seen as an effort by the West to destroy the Islamic Republic. The fighting was encouraged by the West, with the United States sending weapons to both sides. The idea was to have Iran and Iraq fight each other, rather than fight Israel. The United States has never forgiven Iran for deposing the Shah.
A, S, D, F Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
He has gone from the cafe in a Denver art museum to typing letters in an Aspen gallery. The key word is typing. The owner is an old fogey. Letters must be produced with analog typing, with absolutely no mistakes. The computer sits abandoned, waiting for the next visit from a technician. It is like the lady from Gainesville Blueprint. She insisted that every job be perfect, with no background, and all the lines clearly showing. A job that Shacoh could knock out in a few minutes would take hours. The bosslady was the only one who knew the difference.
Audition Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
A nineteen year old is working for his dad at a construction site. One day, Duncan Dioguardi needs a ride home. 19yo takes him home, and stays to smoke crack. 19yo has dreams of being an actor, unlike Duncan, who lives with his mom in a sketchy neighborhood. 19yo goes back to Duncan’s place one more time. Later, 19yo gets a part in a play few people will see. Seinfeld was on the TV while 19yo and Duncan passed the aluminum foil crack pipe, with his comedies about nothing really. Is this a case of art imitating life without trying?
Bronze Jeffrey Eugenides
“Bronze” is the story of Eugene, a baby gay who takes the train to New York for a decadent 1978 weekend. Stigwood takes Eugene to lots of trashy clubs, and funnels vodka and drugs into his painted lips. Eugene is from a small town, and thinks homoze are supposed to dress like a color blind Liberace. Stigwood has another bf, who has an ex in Texas, dying of some mysterious disease. Finally, the boytoy weekend is over. Eugene takes the train back to college, and talks to the ballerina he asked out. “You are strange, not in a good way.”
Omakase Weike Wang
A man, and his Chinese gf, go to dinner at an uber-expensive sushi restaurant in Harlem. They are both microaggressing at times, which seems to be part of the routine at this type of venue. The chef mentions that he was fired at his last job, and the clueless man insists on finding out why. The chef mentions a dispute with his previous boss, and says that the previous boss was Chinese. This irritates the Chinese gf, who has drank enough saké to let it show. There is an omakase place in West Midtown, charging $100 plus, like I’ll go.
The Great Interruption: A Story of a Famous Story of Old Port William and How It Ceased to Be Told (1935-1978) Wendell Berry
The rip-roaring tale of a small town boy who likes to go for walks. He finds a place on a dirt road, hidden by trees from the main road. One day a vehicle pulled into this spot. Inside the vehicle was a prominent citizen, and a young lady. They were both married to other people. The small town boy climbed a tree, overlooking the vehicle. He then climbed out on a branch, to get a better view. The branch broke, depositing the small town boy on the back of the prominent citizen. The story was supposed to be a secret.