The Swan as Metaphor for Love (Electric ... This short story is so tiny it would probably fit in these review.
http://joylandmagazine.com/regions/los-angeles/swan-metaphor-love

I had to read twice to get all the metaphors. I expected something HILARIOUS, as Flavorwire claimed, but it is just ha-ha clever.

Morning, 1908 (Electric Literature's Rec... http://msarki.tumblr.com/post/140693225343/morning-1908-by-claire-louise-bennett

In her short story Morning, 1908 Claire-Louise Bennett writes masterly of what it feels like to find oneself in a potentially compromising situation and then realize it may have been what she wanted in the first place. Wandering outside in a summer evening in only her nightgown with a coat thrown over, and meandering downgrade from her cottage door to the edge of a fence and gate containing several grazing cows, the narrator is startled to see a young man with a back pack making his way on her remote road towards her. She is immediately taken by the fear that it is she he has eyed and comes for. After considering the consequences of being possibly raped she decides it might not be the worst outcome for her, almost recreational, and something dogs do. And that it is possible that this young man is what she wants anyway, and she well-suited for the adventure just as she dreamily entered into her present situation dressed as well, in her eyes, naked. She knew her stupid overcoat would offer little protection for her. But every forward movement the young man proves to make, as a result, keeps himself a certain distance from her, and finally her imagination of a sexual fantasy is all that remains.

Just for a moment everything gathered in dreadful suspension, my eyes gaped, cold and enormous — and then it all glided backwards into an atmosphere of broadening redundancy, intersected by a vertical and rather searing sense of abnegation. And then she adds, Remote sensations really, hardly mine at all — nothing to take personally.

Because things so seldomly work out as planned, at least as planned by me, I purchased this title thinking I’d found a new Javier Marías story and would scoop all fellow Marías fans in its reading. A coup.  A feather in my cap. Whoohoo! Alas, not only was the story not a new one, it was one I’d read a couple years back.  These things happen—to me.

 

In Joy Williams’ Baba Iaga and the Pelican Child, the crotchety old witch startles readers in a tale with a PoMo ending (wait, it has an ending?) if one has done his or her homework by becoming familiar with East European folklore, at the most, or if one has read the Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga ), at the very least.

 

Javier Marías’ The Resignation Letter of Señor de Santiesteban is the story an English school teacher who spends a year haunted, and insulted, by a ghost whose identity is in question, before exacting his revenge. Even better on rereading when it didn’t compete with other Marías stories inWhile the Women Are Sleeping. A chilling tale of one-upmanship.

 

Roberto Ransom’s Three Figures and a Dog is a wondrous story of Art, perhaps haunted Art, and may answer the question of: Can an artist see something in a work of art that others do not? I’m unable to locate anything by Ransom which may have included this story, and it’s a shame as I’m very interested in reading more. In the short term, I’m willing to give A Tale of Two Lions: A Novel a go, even with its relatively low ratings. Meanwhile, you may find this of interest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SMMXu3Tu4Q  Go ahead and watch it, for cryin’ out loud; it’s quite brief and will show you EXACTLY what to expect from the story (sorta).

 

Ben Stroud’s  Byzantium, not surprisingly included in Byzantium: Stories tells the story of Eusebios, a man with a withered hand who is sent on a mission to castrate a monk whom the Emperor fears will usurp his throne—haunted by the miraculous. Very well done.

 

Patrick deWitt (author of The Sisters Brothers) provides a Flannery O’Connor-like story of treachery and deceit with his The Bastard, in which, the title character dupes an old widowed farmer, his daughter, and the entire town they call home. Fun.

 

Five solid stories, capably told, each by authors good at what they do. This collection suggests good things for other volumes in the Electric Literature series.

I wasn't sure if I should add this to my shelf since it's just an excerpt, but it's listed, so why not?

I like every book I've read by Sam Pink and now that I've read this excerpt, I'm sure Rontel will be no exception. I'm glad it's going to be released soon, I'm excited to read the rest.