Mom never got over what Dad did. Now she’s got a camera and a degree in filmmaking.

(from The Atlantic Monthly‘s Fiction Issue)

Sometimes you know a story is going for the funny, achieving the funny, but you just don’t laugh. Read this one aloud to me and I will surely laugh at the funny parts. But alone and sitting in silence, not even music on, I don’t actually laugh. I merely acknowledge the funny, with an inner nod. Nicely done, I think. Well played.
The story does many things well. The most striking success is its characters. The playful, honest-but-sneaky Raylou, the dry-witted recovering alcoholic narrator, the foul-mouthed aspiring director mom. The last one, especially, is a character that strolls the balance beam between pained reality and vengeful cartoon with ease.