"When he was fifteen Fabian saw the film The 39 Steps, which had just come out. He liked to say that this film was a turning-point in his life. It was an epiphany for him. As he left the cinema he knew that he wanted to make films."

An excerpt from a new novel in which characters invent other characters, and events are both magical and real. What is authorship? Who's in charge here, anyway? 

Fabian

"Ibn Zakarya was born in the western mountains of Persia, when silk merchants from the east still plied their trade. Even as a half-naked child playing in a dust, he proved himself a prodigy, scratching the shape of the moon in the yellow earth." 

A tale of ancient deserts where the boundary between science and magic is blurred. A young man's genius is not always valued. What exactly is "wisdom"?

The House of Wisdom

"The Floressas Des Esseintes, to judge by the various portraits preserved in the Château de Lourps, had originally been a family of stalwart troopers and stern cavalry men. Closely arrayed, side by side, in the old frames which their broad shoulders filled, they startled one with the fixed gaze of their eyes, their fierce moustaches and the chests whose deep curves filled the enormous shells of their cuirasses."

This 1884 French novel exemplifies the Decadence literary movement and influenced Oscar Wilde. Join us to explore a style of writing from a time and place so unlike our own.

Against the Grain

"When the bombing started, J.T. Carter was deep in the bowels of a bank in Baltimore with a video camera on his shoulder, capturing,&nbsp;cinema verité, the mundane fate of everyone’s rent check." &nbsp; Desert Storm, 1991. And more foreign wars to follow. At home, we live our safe American lives full of domestic tedium and drama. Here is one man's story.

Another War

"For what must have been the hundredth time that long day I studied the second hand of my watch, a heavy blue-faced Bulova that my wife had spent way too much on for our first wedding anniversary. It had outlasted our marriage and was still keeping perfect time, which was no small comfort." 

As this novel begins, a divorced, depressed architect is about to embark on a life-changing project. A crumbling riverside mansion awaits, along with its challenging inhabitants. What happens when we attempt to face the trauma of our past?

The River Between Us

The Strange Recital is an audio anthology of short fiction. We delight in perceptions of reality that warp and fold in unexpected ways. Each episode runs about 25 minutes and features a story by one writer, plus an author interview with a twist. For older episodes, visit our website.

This track is not available anymore.

Other tracks from The Strange Recital