Office Girl: An Excerpt (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 3)

"And the way Odile stands there, watching him take off his wet shoes, it is like they have done this together a million times before, her leaning there, smiling, her face ruddy, cheeks pink from the cold, arms folded across her chest, waiting, not impatient, but waiting, as if the two of them already know each other, and have already spent countless nights together. And he walks across the apartment in his damp gray socks and bumps into the couch and Odile laughs and whispers, 'Shhhh,' and it’s like they’re kids, like this is only a game, just some practical joke."

In his editor's note, founding editor of Akashic Books Johnny Temple writes about Joe's DIY work ethic and generous spirit: "Working with Joe is a lot like reading one of his books. He treats everyone—bookstore owners, media, readers, editors, and publishers—with the same generosity with which he draws his characters. There’s always a focus on the gift of the moment, an effort to make a human connection amidst the chaos or tedium of modern life."

About Recommended Reading:
Great authors inspire us. But what about the stories that inspire them? Recommended Reading, the latest project from Electric Literature, publishes one story every week, each chosen by a great author or editor. In this age of distraction, we uncover writing that's worth slowing down and spending some time with. And in doing so, we help give great writers, literary magazines, and independent presses the recognition (and readership) they deserve.

Author Bio:
Joe Meno is a fiction writer and playwright who lives in Chicago. He is a winner of the Nelson Algren Literary Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Great Lakes Book Award, and was a finalist for the Story Prize. He is the author of five novels and two short story collections including Hairstyles of the Damned, The Great Perhaps, The Boy Detective Fails, and Demons in the Spring. His short fiction has been published in One Story, McSweeney’s, Swink, LIT, TriQuarterly, Other Voices, Gulf Coast, and broadcast on NPR. His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times and Chicago Magazine.He is an associate professor in the Fiction Writing Department at Columbia College Chicago.

About Akashic Books:
Akashic Books is an award-winning independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers. Akashic Books hosts additional imprints, including the Akashic Noir Series, the Akashic Drug Chronicles Series, the Akashic Urban Surreal Series, Punk Planet Books, Dennis Cooper’s Little House on the Bowery Series, Open Lens, Chris Abani’s Black Goat Poetry Series, and AkashiClassics: Renegade Reprint Series.