Supernova

Original Fiction Brought to You by Electric Literature's Recommended Reading

De: Dani Shapiro, Benjamin Samuel - introduction

Narrado por: Kevin Stillwell

What's fascinating about Dani Shapiro's story "Supernova" is "its focus on the minor catastrophe that is Shenkman, a relatively prosperous man whose minor shortcomings feel, to him alone, monumental and impossible to overlook," writes Benjamin Samuel, co-editor of Electric Literature, in his introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "Despite rowing every day, obsessively racing against an old rival in a computerized simulation, nobody even knows Shenkman is still competing. Worse still, he isn't even trying to win anymore, just trying to transpose his sense of defeat on anyone left in the race. Shenkman's last hope for achieving something is his son, Waldo, who spends so much time stargazing, so disconnected from the real world, that he's slipped out of Shenkman's reach.

"'Supernova' is a story that succeeds because of its remarkable treatment of the mediocre, it's focus on the middle of the pack where most of spend our days. It reminds us that we can exalt the quotidian, and that normalcy can be something to commemorate.... Because most of the time existence doesn't end with a bang or even a whimper, sometimes life ends with a shrug."

©2013 Dani Shapiro (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Not my favorite

While I am a huge Dani Shapiro fan, I didn't particularly connect with this one. It meandered around a bit too much and I found the characters depressing. Nevertheless she is a very talented writer with a great many other books worthy of exploring.