Leg (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 71)

"'Leg' opened up a path for me," writes author J. Robert Lennon in his introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "It's disarmingly simple: Dave, 'typically a prudent guy,' slides into third base during a church-league softball game and scrapes half the skin off his leg. Then, over the next couple of weeks, he does absolutely nothing as the wound grows more painful and dangerous. These anti-events are set against the backdrop of Dave's stalled familial relationships—a 'busy, charitable' wife who seems embarrassed by her husband's goofy amiability, and a teenage son, Randy, who is lost in a toxic fog of seething, free-floating rage. Dave's disconnect with the son is the problem the story sets out to solve; the solution is, ultimately, terrible sacrifice."

Author's Bio:
Steven Polansky was born in New York City. He was educated at Wesleyan, Hollins, and Princeton. He has taught at St. Olaf College, Macalester, and the University of Minnesota. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Glimmer Train, Best American Stories, New England Review, and Minnesota Monthly. He has published two books: The Bradbury Report, a novel, and a book of short stories, Dating Miss Universe, which won the Sandstone Prize and the Minnesota Book Award. He has a wife, two sons, and a daughter. He lives in Wisconsin.

About the Guest Editor:
J. Robert Lennon is the author of a story collection, Pieces For The Left Hand, and seven novels, including Mailman, Familiar, and Happyland, out next week from Dzanc / Open Road. He teaches writing at Cornell University.

About the Publisher:
Electric Literature is an independent publisher working to ensure that literature remains a vibrant presence in popular culture. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction, accompanied by a Single Sentence Animation. Single Sentence Animations are creative collaborations: the author chooses a favorite sentence and we commission an artist to interpret it. Stay connected with us through email, Facebook, and Twitter, and find previous Electric Literature picks in the Recommended Reading archives.