The Strange Recital is an audio anthology of short fiction. It is not genre-specific and delights in perceptions of reality that warp and fold in unexpected ways. The literary works we showcase might be odd, humorous, or surreal.... They might remind you of Borges, Nabokov, Kafka, Pynchon. Or none of the above.
Each podcast episode features one writer and runs about 25 minutes. It includes a story reading – the Recital – a brief musical interlude, and an author interview with a twist – the Post Recital. Subscribe to get a new episode twice a month. It's free.
"Affecting lightheartedness, I trod the moist pavements of the
narrow streets. As though in tears and veiled, the lamps
glimmered through the chill gloom and sucked their reflections
slowly from the wet ground. The forgotten years of my youth came
back to me. How I used to love the dark, sad evenings of late
autumn and...
"The month was October, the day brilliant. Bareheaded, bald
too young but well-bearded, a man not long past his youth strode
along Bleecker, his comfortable shoes belying the business-like
focus of his venture. His water-flow way of dodging fellow walkers
was well-practiced, a city-dweller's skill used even as...
"I saw that Constance had emailed me suggesting we meet. She
was embroiled in a mystery and needed my help. She would tell me
more in person. We met on a bench in a park. The mystery was
complicated. It involved two or more people who appeared to be
one..."
A man accompanies his friend to Paris to solve a
mystery....
"The last time I saw my father I barely saw him. Now that
morning seems sharp as shears but I know it wasn’t. I was
half-asleep. I think I made my way to the kitchen. I think my
father was already starting to leave. We may have hugged."
An enigmatic young woman tries to make sense of her life alone
in an unnamed...
"For three years, we knew Dad had a lump in his throat. He had
trouble swallowing, and several times a day, he would be possessed
by a mad coughing fit that would leave him clutching the furniture
for support."
In this opening from a highly-praised novel, an adult daughter
begins to face her father's chronic pain, his...