stay awake: cynical puissance
A tip of the hat to the stay awake staff. They’ve produced an excellent chapbook that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The short fiction ranges from the absurd (This is Paul the Mantel Fish) to the all too real world of business (meeting are similar to a funeral “in the sense that you have a gathering of people who are wearing uncomfortable clothing and would rather be somewhere else”). But my favourite was the beautiful Mama Has Too Much (think Massive Attack’s teardrop video). However, the articles dividing the stories are worthy of a zine all alone. And proof that life is stranger than fiction: one of the authors is the guy in the Weetabix commercials. (PC)
chapbook, issue 17, $?, Sarah Welstead, 515 Rosewell Avenue, #2, Toronto, ON, M4R 2B6