#124 Radio Gannet- Shena Mackay

#124 Radio Gannet- Shena Mackay

“Norma had five children and fourteen grandchildren, thus ensuring that she had somebody to worry about at any given moment.” Her sister Dolly had a hip radio program. She was the favorite, their “father always indulged Dolly.”

Her radio program was at “the wrong end of the dial.” Just like her type lived on the wrong side of the town, Eastcliff-on-Sea. “…Fame, Dolly knew, came with a price. Like every celebrity, she had attracted a stalker.”

Norma resented Dolly, was embarrassed by her. “Dolly inhabits a parallel universe.” Her existence was like an asteroid hitting the earth.

This story seems like it came out of a notebook, unfinished, unpolished, undeveloped. At least that's how it hit my ears, just left me with nothing solid at the end.

Rating: 6-6-5-4 Total= 21

#6 Pirate Station- Rick Moody

#6 Pirate Station (2006) Rick Moody

Before reading this short story, I’ve only read two novels by Rick Moody.  I absolutely loved Garden State, and absolutely hated Purple America, so it could’ve gone either way here.  What makes Moody both salient and sometimes hard to read is he takes the most uncomfortable or unstomachable situation you can think of and magnifies it for 300 pages…not here thankfully.

Pirate Station is a very short, running description about what is being broadcast on a particular Pirate Radio Station.  Its funny, creative, satirical and bafoonish.  I loved it.  If read as a monologue, it is actually something you might hear on an alternative pirate radio station.  Although not strictly speaking a short story, I’m allowing some works like this into this project to explore exactly where the lines of that definition stretch.  My only complaint, It could have been longer.

Notable Passage: The whole thing is a notable passage but here are a few examples:

“The sounds of southwestern cacti are broadcast for several weeks until, by general assent, it is agreed that cacti make no sounds”

“A contest is announced on the pirate station to find the person who has the best radio voice. This person is then tickled mercilessly on air and driven blindfolded to a distant metropolis”

Rating: 8-8-7-10 Total =33