Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

It Doesn't Have to Be a Big Deal (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

4.1/5 ( ratings)

“'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is both the title of this sharp, discerning story, and the narrator’s mantra—a phrase born out of equating disaffection with ease, inconsequence with fun," writes Halimah Marcus, Co-Editor of Electric Literature, in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "'Was it fun?' the narrator asks of her relationship with a broke pot grower. She has flown across the country to visit him and since arriving, has footed every bill. 'But we had to do things,' she reasons. 'Otherwise, it wasn’t an experience. It was just sitting in his house.'

"Their relationship has all the trappings of fun—youth, impermanence, caprice. Yet the narrator finds herself dispirited by the grower’s attempts at affection. He props her with pillows, he packs her a fresh bowl, he asks her to be patient.

"In part, 'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is about dating. And what dating is about, as Rebecca reveals with her knockout wit and acerbic prose, is regulating intimacy. Let a little in, keep a little out. 'This was what it was for, dating,' she writes. 'Wet hugs. Jesus jokes. I needed this. I would get high and have this.' Small pleasures, such as those found on a day trip to the hot springs, are permissible. But the narrator’s ultimate goal is to avoid the Big Deals: relationships and choices of untold consequence, the kind of experiences that become unmanageable once set in motion."

Language: English

Pages: 15

Format: Kindle Edition

Publisher: Electric Literature

Release: December 01, 2013

It Doesn't Have to Be a Big Deal (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

4.1/5 ( ratings)

“'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is both the title of this sharp, discerning story, and the narrator’s mantra—a phrase born out of equating disaffection with ease, inconsequence with fun," writes Halimah Marcus, Co-Editor of Electric Literature, in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "'Was it fun?' the narrator asks of her relationship with a broke pot grower. She has flown across the country to visit him and since arriving, has footed every bill. 'But we had to do things,' she reasons. 'Otherwise, it wasn’t an experience. It was just sitting in his house.'

"Their relationship has all the trappings of fun—youth, impermanence, caprice. Yet the narrator finds herself dispirited by the grower’s attempts at affection. He props her with pillows, he packs her a fresh bowl, he asks her to be patient.

"In part, 'It Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal' is about dating. And what dating is about, as Rebecca reveals with her knockout wit and acerbic prose, is regulating intimacy. Let a little in, keep a little out. 'This was what it was for, dating,' she writes. 'Wet hugs. Jesus jokes. I needed this. I would get high and have this.' Small pleasures, such as those found on a day trip to the hot springs, are permissible. But the narrator’s ultimate goal is to avoid the Big Deals: relationships and choices of untold consequence, the kind of experiences that become unmanageable once set in motion."

Language: English

Pages: 15

Format: Kindle Edition

Publisher: Electric Literature

Release: December 01, 2013

More books from Halimah Marcus

The Bastard (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

3.9/5 ( ratings)

Who Loves It Most

3.3/5 ( ratings)

Hello Everybody

3.5/5 ( ratings)

Angel Lust (Kindle Single) (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

3.5/5 ( ratings)

Watching Mysteries With My Mother

3.2/5 ( ratings)

Recovery (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

3.8/5 ( ratings)

All These Little Worlds

Star Witness: A Story in Seven Parts (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 274)

4.1/5 ( ratings)

Our Education (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

4.2/5 ( ratings)

Mack! (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

3.2/5 ( ratings)

Horse Girls: Recovering, Aspiring, and Devoted Riders Redefine the Iconic Bond

3.7/5 ( ratings)

You're Home Early (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

4.3/5 ( ratings)

You Are the Stepson (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 65)

2.7/5 ( ratings)

9 Stories on the Magic of Cities

All Dogs Go to Heaven with a Vengeance (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

3.6/5 ( ratings)

We Are Persistence Runners (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

4.6/5 ( ratings)

Our Meat (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading Book 105)

4.6/5 ( ratings)

Rate this book!

Write a review?

Reader Reviews

Gina Freyn

(5/5)

0

May 19, 2024

I'm a new Rebecca Schiff fan! Strong short story. Can't wait to read The Bed Moved: Stories!!!