Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Day One Hundred Sixteen: "The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged)" by John Varley

Community.

I loved this story. LOVED IT! Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I have to say that this was a treat and a much needed break from some of the heavier stuff I've been reading and writing lately. Even so, this story has a darkness to it that is not lost in the ease of the read.

It's basically a narrator going through the phonebook and telling the reader about listing after listing, opening secrets, sharing intimate details of the lives that are given names on the page. It is such an innovative and interesting story that by its conclusion, feels like a sort of politcal statement even. That this author could pack so much into a very short story is astounding. I'm not disappointed in the least by this one.

Now I feel compelled to pick up my own phone book and let my mind go!

A link to the story is here:

http://www.varley.net/Pages/Manhattan.htm

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