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A Clean Marriage
Sayaka Murata
‘Frequency of sex since marriage: zero.’ Sayaka Murata on a sexless marriage and the ‘Clean Breeder’ technique for pleasureless reproduction.
A Hebrew Sibyl
Cynthia Ozick
‘And so began what I was to become. To all these things – the admonitions and the testimonies, the rites and the annunciations – I had easily acquiesced.’
A Killing
Katherine Faw Morris
COKE SMELLS COLD AND CHEMICAL LIKE THE INSIDE OF A REFRIGERATOR. It’s what back then smells like, now when she thinks of it.
Books and Roses
Helen Oyeyemi
‘A golden chain was fastened around her neck, and on that chain was a key.’
Breakfast
Toshiki Okada
‘If I had known she were heading for Tokyo then, and if I had known she thought of Tokyo as a city of zombies, I would have wanted to know, of course, whether she saw me that way, too.’
Bucket of Eels
Mitsuyo Kakuta
‘I was gazing into my empty bowl and realizing how little time it takes to eat when you’re not carrying on a conversation.’
Eight Trains
Alberto Olmos
‘To go is always to go somewhere; returning, you return to nowhere. That’s the way it is.’
Final Fantasy III
Tao Lin
‘On the F train to Manhattan I emailed a friend in the UK. I said I couldn’t write my essay about Japan.’
Grandma and Me
Thomas McGuane
‘Barring weather or a World Series game, on Sundays I’d pick up a nice little box lunch from Mustang Catering and take Grandma some place that smelled good.’