Brian Evenson, "Mudder Tongue"

A single father and teacher loses control of the language.

(from McSweeney’s, issue 16)

You know from the first page what kind of story this would be: The kind where a guy has a problem that just gets worse and there’s nothing anybody can do for him and that’s just all. In this one, the guy tries to say some words but different words come out. Eventually it affects his work, his homelife, his peace of mind. And it’s just a symptom of something worse.
That the man’s apparent brain malady is sometimes played for comedy, or maybe that’s just how it reads when a guy says “gravy” when he wants to say “fishing.” Some conditions are just silly. Of course, we the readers of the world are aware that the author invented this disease as a means to afflict his character and, by extension, us. Still, not a bad read.

Here‘s an interview with Brian Evenson. It’s all nerdspeak and theory.

Sarah Dougher, “My Kingdom”

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