It Doesn't Have to Be a Big Deal (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 81)
Book Details
Author(s)Rebecca Schiff
PublisherElectric Literature
ISBN / ASINB00H20S206
ISBN-13978B00H20S204
Sales Rank1,242,987
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
“'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is both the title of this sharp, discerning story, and the narrator’s mantra—a phrase born out of equating disaffection with ease, inconsequence with fun," writes Halimah Marcus, Co-Editor of Electric Literature, in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "'Was it fun?' the narrator asks of her relationship with a broke pot grower. She has flown across the country to visit him and since arriving, has footed every bill. 'But we had to do things,' she reasons. 'Otherwise, it wasn’t an experience. It was just sitting in his house.'
"Their relationship has all the trappings of fun—youth, impermanence, caprice. Yet the narrator finds herself dispirited by the grower’s attempts at affection. He props her with pillows, he packs her a fresh bowl, he asks her to be patient.
"In part, 'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is about dating. And what dating is about, as Rebecca reveals with her knockout wit and acerbic prose, is regulating intimacy. Let a little in, keep a little out. 'This was what it was for, dating,' she writes. 'Wet hugs. Jesus jokes. I needed this. I would get high and have this.' Small pleasures, such as those found on a day trip to the hot springs, are permissible. But the narrator’s ultimate goal is to avoid the Big Deals: relationships and choices of untold consequence, the kind of experiences that become unmanageable once set in motion."
About the Author:
Rebecca Schiff's work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Connu, Fence, Guernica, n+1, and in the anthology Lost and Found: Stories from New York. She is completing a collection of short stories, tentatively titled Rate Your Life. She lives in Brooklyn.
About the Publisher:
Electric Literature is an independent publisher working to ensure that literature remains a vibrant presence in popular culture. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction, accompanied by a Single Sentence Animation. Single Sentence Animations are creative collaborations: the author chooses a favorite sentence and we commission an artist to interpret it. Stay connected with us through email, Facebook, and Twitter, and find previous Electric Literature picks in the Recommended Reading archives.
"Their relationship has all the trappings of fun—youth, impermanence, caprice. Yet the narrator finds herself dispirited by the grower’s attempts at affection. He props her with pillows, he packs her a fresh bowl, he asks her to be patient.
"In part, 'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is about dating. And what dating is about, as Rebecca reveals with her knockout wit and acerbic prose, is regulating intimacy. Let a little in, keep a little out. 'This was what it was for, dating,' she writes. 'Wet hugs. Jesus jokes. I needed this. I would get high and have this.' Small pleasures, such as those found on a day trip to the hot springs, are permissible. But the narrator’s ultimate goal is to avoid the Big Deals: relationships and choices of untold consequence, the kind of experiences that become unmanageable once set in motion."
About the Author:
Rebecca Schiff's work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Connu, Fence, Guernica, n+1, and in the anthology Lost and Found: Stories from New York. She is completing a collection of short stories, tentatively titled Rate Your Life. She lives in Brooklyn.
About the Publisher:
Electric Literature is an independent publisher working to ensure that literature remains a vibrant presence in popular culture. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction, accompanied by a Single Sentence Animation. Single Sentence Animations are creative collaborations: the author chooses a favorite sentence and we commission an artist to interpret it. Stay connected with us through email, Facebook, and Twitter, and find previous Electric Literature picks in the Recommended Reading archives.
