Product Description
One Story magazine features one great story every month. Because One Story never publishes an author more than once, you’ll discover a great new writer in every issue. Launched in 2002, One Story has quickly become one of the top American venues for short fiction. Of the 115 issues published between 2002 and 2008, almost half were selected as among the year’s best by various anthologies and prizes, including Best American Short Stories, Best American Non-Requ… More >>
I subscribed to One Story out of curiosity a couple months ago. I’ve read three stories so far. The stories are all very well written. Each issue includes an About the Author and some Q&A with the author.
I docked a star because I am still not exactly clear about the pricing and publishing schedule. It costs $1.49/month, but I thought I saw they are delivered every 3 weeks. The dates I listed below are the “publish” dates, not the dates they arrived on my Kindle, and they don’t seem to be the same time apart. I see there’s an Oct 6 issue on line, but it has not arrived on my Kindle yet (as of Oct 15)…
At any rate, to give an idea of what the stories are like, here are brief descriptions of the stories I’ve read so far.
Aug 10: “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre,” by Seth Fried, 4610 words
A surreal story about a town that turns out every year for an annual picnic outside of town. Each year some horrible, bizarre disaster happens, yet every year they go again. It’s written somewhat in the style of “The Lottery”, a short story we studied in school decades ago. The descriptions are bright and cheerful, but there many hints at these dark sinister forces at work that no one seems able to confront. I don’t want to give away a lot of the story. This was a really unique story, and if they were all, or mostly, as original as this one, I’d say One Story is a bargain at twice the price.
Aug 30: “Desiderata,” by Jennifer Haigh, 6174 words
A story about an aging widow and her relationship with her deceased husband and (platonicaly) with the retired janitor from the school at which her husband was the principal. Through the span of the story she discovers some things about her husband, and about herself, that she’d not known before. While this one was very well written, and I really enjoyed the ending, I’ve read too many other stories about aging widows looking back on their lives, such that I kept waiting to see what is unique about this one.
Sept 10: “Stag,” by Rob McCarthy, 6553 words
Another quite unique story, centered on a recovered alcoholic young father who has recently separated from his alcoholic wife, for the sake of their five year old daughter. He moves into an abandoned house outside of town, hoping that the surrounding quiet and nature will be good for his daughter and their relationship. The title refers to a stag that appears in the middle of the story and takes a center role through the rest of the story. Again, I don’t want to spoil anything. I didn’t “enjoy” this story as much as the picnic one above, but not because it isn’t a great story. It is very intense, and a bit emotionally wrenching, leaving me in a bad mood! This story incorporates some nice symbolism, and really beautifully ties the symbolism into the story line at the ending.
I especially enjoyed the Q&A with the authors at the ends of these stories. It is surprising to see what motivated them and where the elements come from.
I imagine you could google the authors or titles and learn more details about the stories on line.
I sense from the three I’ve read so far that the stories will cover all different genres and writing styles. If you enjoy taking a small gamble and reading different things, without knowing what they will be about in advance, definitely give One Story a try!
Rating: 4 / 5
I’ve been a One Story subscriber for several years now and I’m always so happy when the next new story arrives. It’s great to see this Kindle subscription now available – whatta concept!!! To have a brand-new short story wafted through the ether and into your futuristic reading device!!! Too cool for words.
Subscribe NOW. At a penny shy of a buck-fifty per story you can’t afford NOT to! You won’t be sorry. In fact, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. =)
Rating: 5 / 5