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.
"Quitting cocaine was easier than quitting beer. It sounds
like a faulty comparison, but it was true for me. Addiction affects
individuals in different ways depending on their physiology. Even
so, I was on the verge of turning my nostrils into Cream of Wheat,
aka “nasal collapse.” Incidentally, Cream of Wheat was my...
"One rarely mentions them separately. They are practically a
unit, Eustace and Parmenides. The pair rose to
fantastic renown, their souls steeped in the labors of their
calling. But what may have begun as fickle adventures in nocturnal
prowling and curiosity about a bracing mystique hatched into a
fateful career."
"Inside the Girlie Playhouse white afternoons are still
discreetly extinguished in candlelit rooms, while outside the
demonstrators have begun their second week. The street is lined
with sleeping bags and coolers. Activists hoot and holler muddled
slogans."
A newly published literary novel...but it's about...
"How's your IPA?" "Not bad." "So...are your classes going
okay?" "Well, yes and no. Are you finding that these students think
differently than we did? It's like they take everything literally."
"No sense of poetry or metaphor, you mean? I see the same
thing with the math students. For instance, the idea of...
"Vera is losing her grip on time. She’s been driving all
night, for days even, she can’t say. She pulls over onto
the shoulder of road next to the creek, her wheels rumbling across
a muddy lump of plowed snow as she comes to a stop."
To be young forever...is it really what you want? In this
excerpt from a new...