Short fiction (and because I am feeling expansive, nonfiction) of the new Irreantum

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So the new Irreantum arrived this week and, as I did last time, I'm going to review the fiction. This time I'm also going to review the nonfiction (as fiction) because, as William pointed out, it's not always easy to tell the difference.

Long in the Tooth by Joshua Foster

I felt this story a great deal. I felt the creation of the characters was topnotch and the society described was tactile and real and the dogs too breathed. But then . . . I don't think Foster knew what his point was. Or if he did, he decided not to include it in his final draft. Which was upsetting. It's hard to read a great piece and then arrive at the end in a lurch asking myself was the purpose of it all was.

Faithful by Angela Hallstrom

This is just one part of Bound on Earth that I've already reviewed. What I found curious this time was how, when part of a novel, I overlooked its sins of overexplanation (which, when part of a novel, they should have bothered me even more), but I could not this time. But it is still an excellent story. The crescent rolls, so perfect. A lovely tale.

I'll Be a Stranger to You by Cara Diaconoff

This needed a rewrite. It's loaded with unclear antecedents and ambiguous tags and inconsistent time structurings. Its depiction of Moscow is vivid at times, but the human characters are not at all and some elements are hard to accept as nearing truth (depictions of missionaries, notably). It's nice to see a story that attempts to deal with homosexuality in a Mormon setting, but I've read much better. I've told Ugly Swan to enter the Irreantum fiction contests. Why won't he listen to me?

The Memo Box by Heidi Tighe

Everything that's good about this story and everything that's not are summarized perfectly in its first line: "On the day that Sister Jenkins killed her husband, my mother got another package in the mail." It's a perfectly structured, textbook-clever opening line melding the literary everyday with the literarily violent. Then it gets into domestic dissatisfaction etcetcetrc with a child narrator way too wise for his age etcetcetc. In other words, it's a fantastic story --- that we've heard about a zillion times before. Which is a shame. Because there's nothing actually wrong with it. Yet I can't sing its praises.

The Mesa by Oliver Welch

Although another typical piece of literary [non]fiction without any surprises, by really nailing the ending, "The Mesa" becomes something more than the previous tale. And I think it might be the first bit of good rez [non]fiction I've read from an outsider's point of view (meaning the character, not the writer although, as it ended up, these were the same).

Two Things by Russ Beck

I loved this story. It was fresh and clever and fun and in another setting I could have loved it without reservation. But its last line emphasized the reason I can't give myself over to it completely, viz. it's one more story in this issue that's about people on their way out. And frankly, this heavy a percentage of such tales in one issue of Irreantum disengages me and makes a story as good as "Two Things" feel tired when it isn't.

Outside by Shawn P. Bailey

This one's good too. Doesn't quite stick the ending, but the up-to is pretty good. It makes an interesting counterpoint to the previous story and ends the mag nicely. Narrated by a falling(fallen?)-away about this relationship with a dying. But all the same it manages to be interesting and fun and new (overall).

So, speaking of Overall, overall, the last issue was better. But this issue by no means dashed my hope and faith. I still feel Irreantum is a promising and marvelous source for Mormon literature. And I encourage y'all to submit.

Especially you poets. Four of the nine poems in this issue were reprints. If that means they're not getting enough good poems, then SHAME ON YOU POETS. Yeah. You heard me. Submit.

And subscribe. (That goes for all of you.)

(see also my comments on the essay by bwjorgensen in this same issue)