The Perfect Length

The line between life and fiction is blurred when an MFA student turns her writing class into a short story

The King

In this 1921 story by Isaac Babel, a “king” of gangsters is informed of an imminent police raid as he prepares to host a Jewish wedding feast.

Pushkin in the Boiler

In the early days of Mao's Cultural Revolution, a family receives an unexpected visit from their former boiler maintenance man in this luminous story by the award-winning Chinese poet.

Akira Hirata

"Akira knew making love with Faye was textbook betrayal, but a current ran through him that made him feel beyond reproach. After all, Faye had pursued him pretty aggressively. Akira believed there was a big difference between the betrayals you pursued and betrayals that fell into your lap."

Locked

"Why did that feeling of unlocking the lock, of lifting the gate—why, of all the repeated tasks of her life—why did that stand out? Especially at the beginning with Adam, but also on and off over the years, it was hard for her to find release. She was the lock."

A Death

"The mayor wants shiny new structures, and these old hulks are in the way. In Chicago, that’s a simple equation. Bud fights the teardowns anyway, and as each effort fails, he photographs the doomed buildings, trying to capture their essence."