She is not a warthog in the zoo. She travels with a whip and rope through space and time. She is... more

My wife says I'm too old for rollercoasters. Maybe she's right. I'm twenty-five, I'm balding, and I have a weak beard. But I still... more

Outside on his porch was an indoor sofa. But he kept the lawn mowed. Early in the morning when the... more

Amy: Mattox, thank you for chatting with me about your new (and first) novel, Sometimes We're... more

A few months ago (i.e. in August), Michael Kimball guest-edited Everyday Genius... more

Fish Stories

This friend of mine, Greg, he's always quitting smoking. He breaks his cigarettes in half, or runs them under the... more

She finds me in the backyard, behind the fence. I'm not crying because I've never been a child who cries. Instead I stare at the way the... more

The Night Sky

Looking west over the ocean, watching the yellow crescent moon dip behind the low strip of fog off the coast. It... more

Unfortunately, Chin fed her sock puppets too many vegetables. She didn't always feed them in front of me, but the smell of steamed... more

Nancy Lish was a simple woman with one simple obsession: she wanted to be a contestant on the game show Disk & Ladder. Every week she sent... more

The man is older than the woman, but not by much. They're out for a stroll in the park, taking in the sunshine and fresh air. "Look at... more

We Couldn't All Be Cowboys
 

Timmy Pringle always told everyone he wasn't named after a chip, and then when he started to... more

Not more than two steps in and Ali had the Sadness Museum exhibit sized up.

Her words, This exhibit is sad, sad, sad.

I tried to... more

One of the things that most fans don't know about NBA superstars, is that we like to meet in the off season... more

A few minutes till closing on a Friday, a kid still in the library, no parent with him, too cold out for him to walk home if he lives any... more

The Four Steps of Standard Plastination

1. Fixation

When Lily was born, it was decided she would be the last because the... more

Graham needs to be an interesting character. Graham is a doctor. Graham is a brain surgeon. Graham is a brain... more

It was a long time before slavery went away. The town kept their own slaves well into the Carnegie Administration, trading... more

How To Play Shit

My brothers Kimi and Mike left with their friend Carmen to steal some watermelon Now & Laters from the... more

The sun wasn't even fully up yet and there I was, on some stranger's roof, about to begin work for the day, when this girl, maybe four... more

All his life the boy threw knives. In his youth he threw knives only in his mind, pretended himself the central... more

Take it from inside you and draw it out. Do it before it decides you are not what you seem to be and, as a result, holds you up... more

In high school, dating Randall "Big Randy" Barton was a rite of passage for the small population of black girls at our... more

Carol Gipson had acne and was the slightest bit pudgy but she seemed like someone who would turn beautiful... more