I open this month’s creative nonfiction selections with a light-hearted, well-executed piece about life’s potential,
by a young writer with a great deal of potential of his own, Patrick K. Sung. “The Lawson Pick-Up” will give us entrée to the startling mysteries in this month’s other narratives.
Many of you know that for the past three years I have been caring for my parents, both of whom are stroke patients. Three pieces by three excellent writers dramatize what it’s like when your mother becomes seriously ill. The situations differ in detail, but Anna Clarke’s “Whatever Can Come to a Woman Can Come to Me,” Amy Monticello’s “Suburban,” and Cindy Zelman’s “A Smirnoff and Coke” all convey, with narrative magic and page-turning poignancy, the rewards as well as the challenges of dealing with an infirm parent. These are some of the best pieces I’ve ever had the privilege of presenting through Connotation Press.
So now I’m going to step out of the way and allow you to be deeply affected by them.