The Taxonomy of Things (A Short Story)

This story was originally published in Day One, a weekly literary journal dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers.

Middle-aged entomologist Gordon Gold had a tumultuous relationship with his mother. She was more committed to her career than to her children, so in the wake of her death, he finds himself both bereaved and bitter. But she’s bequeathed him her most treasured possessions—her books—and, to his surprise, he finds notes in their margins that reveal a very different view of the woman who raised him. Stoic and unskilled at engaging emotionally, Gordon now struggles to revise his memory of his mother—and to let in his long-suffering girlfriend before he finds himself even more alone.