So I asked Rick Moody to contribute a story to Fictionaut. Maybe his first published story, for Line Breaks. And he said, does it have to be my first? How about my third? And I said sure. So he looked around, and hunted, and searched, and a few weeks went by, and then today I had this e-mail in my inbox, which I am delighted to share with the Fictionaut community. Because Rick Moody is a mensch. –Gary Percesepe

Gary, I pulled it out of a hat! I found that story, “Fragment from an Untelevised Revolution!” I think it came out in 1990, in a magazine called BIG WEDNESDAY, which only put out five issues, all stapled and photocopied. It had some good people in it, notwithstanding. Anyway, this was probably like my fourth piece published, and it’s not quite as homely as the other three, and it is certainly, at least, somewhat original. Embarrassing, sure, but not anything like American short fiction at that moment, which was embarrassing in a different direction.

And because it’s so short I managed to type it all out by hand (and fixed a couple of tiny things).

I hope it’s not too awful . . .

All best,

Rick Moody.

Rick Moody is the author of four novels and three collections of short fiction. Line Breaks is a regular feature in which accomplished authors introduce and share their first published stories with the Fictionaut community. Line Breaks is curated by Gary Percesepe. You can read “Fragment from an Untelevised Revolution” on Fictionaut.


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    […] A letter from Rick Moody at Fictionaut. […]



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