Month: June 2021

I’ve sought out two stories based entirely on their art being featured in Tumblr posts.

The first is the short story “Snake Head” by Lynda Leidiger, featured in the October 1979 issue of Playboy. I purchased said issue, then later also found the story in The New Generation: Fiction for Our Time from America’s Writing Programs from 1987 and purchased that as well. I’ve lost the link to the original Tumblr post but suffice to say they sold me on the story.

The second is the recently Tumblr’ed novel Altered Egos by Kenneth Girard from 1983. It was the creepy dummy that compelled me to find it.

I’m only partway into Altered Egos and I can’t help but notice a parallel. Both stories feature women who are seemingly possessed by powers beyond their reckoning. Both protagonists are stuck in situations manipulated by more powerful men. Both characters use lifeless, anthropomorphized objects to express some dissatisfaction with what ought to be, and in the process discover some aspects of themselves that they were incapable of expressing before. 

Simple connections, meaningless happenstance. Something compelling to think about.

I’ve sought out two stories based entirely on their art being featured in Tumblr posts.

The first is the short story “Snake Head” by Lynda Leidiger, featured in the October 1979 issue of Playboy. I purchased said issue, then later also found the story in The New Generation: Fiction for Our Time from America’s Writing Programs from 1987 and purchased that as well. I’ve lost the link to the original Tumblr post but suffice to say they sold me on the story.

The second is the recently Tumblr’ed novel Altered Egos by Kenneth Girard from 1983. It was the creepy dummy that compelled me to find it.

I’m only partway into Altered Egos and I can’t help but notice a parallel. Both stories feature women who are seemingly possessed by powers beyond their reckoning. Both protagonists are stuck in situations manipulated by more powerful men. Both characters use lifeless, anthropomorphized objects to express some dissatisfaction with what ought to be, and in the process discover some aspects of themselves that they were incapable of expressing before. 

Simple connections, meaningless happenstance. Something compelling to think about.