Electric Literature

By far, the most exciting and creative collection of short stories to satisfy the hunger of the time crunched, over-worked, stressed out, literary enthusiast. I eagerly look forward to getting my issue and savoring the imagery and imagination that these gifted authors bring to life in the short story genre. I am privileged to be a member of this growing audience that appreciates creativity, brevity and the lack of distractions (ads, etc) that often plague periodicals. Thank you, EL, for remaining true to the short story genre and presenting it in multiple formats to satisfy the 21st century technological junkies.

As a short story writer, I think it's an absolute necessity to read the newest and most inventive short fiction available. This means purchasing literary journals. I don't love everything I buy but I am usually entertained while being kept abreast of what's being written today. So, I ordered Electric Literature, not quite knowing what to expect though I was familiar with all of the contributors' work. Well, I was not disappointed. Each piece offers a very different style and subject matter, and each is well written. My favorite story (if I must admit to having one) is "Three-Legged Dog" by Diana Wagman. It's about a man who has fallen in love with a woman who has lost a breast to cancer. It is dark, funny, disturbing. My kind of fiction.

I had been looking forward to the short story by Jim Shepard and although at first I didn't love the cover of the magazine, the content by far makes up for the lit. mag. jacket. I sat down and read all stories in a row and all fabulous. This magazine reminds me of Granta and the Paris Review in that it pushes into new territory while still giving a nod to the tradition. I really enjoyed this very much although ordering was a little tricky; still used to buying books at bookstores, I guess. Highly recommended. Good for writers too as they pay generously. May try it on-line at some point; or if I buy a kindle. Look forward to more. Keep it up. Thanks so much.

Electric Literature #1 contains five well written tales that are the kind of stories that will both move you and make you think. The five stories in this first issue are: Shepard's "Your Fate Hurtles Down at You", Diana Wagman's "Three-Legged Dog", T Cooper's "The Time Machine", Michael Cunningham's "From OLYMPIA (a novel in progress), and Lydia Millet's "Sir Henry." All of the stories are of high literary quality, and they provide inventive settings and quirky, emotional stories that should excite and entertain anyone who is a true lover of short fiction. I look forward to seeing where this new magazine goes from here.

The first issue of Electric Literature is remarkable! The writers are top shelf: New work by Michael Cunningham, Jim Sheperd, T Cooper, Lydia Millet, and Diana Wagman. And with the anthology available in every format under the sun (iPhone, Kindle, print-on-demand), there's no reason not to get on board. Highly recommended, and I look forward to the next issue. Long live Electric Literature!