What You Are Now Enjoying

by Sarah Gerkensmeyer

Autumn House Press, 2013

Reviewed by Cherry Potts

“The Monster who has been haunting me since I was a kid is depressed. We sit on my kitchen counter in the middle of the night and drink chocolate milk. This is so awkward, he says. Don’t worry about it, I say. But really, he says, I feel kind of bad about this.”

Sarah Gerkensmeyer’s stories inhabit an alternate universe, so close to our own, that for the first few paragraphs of each story you think you know where you are, but quickly the off kilter, not what you thought, creeps in and nudges you.

These are quiet, undramatic stories in which although drastic action is sometimes taken, you never get to dwell on the excitement or the trauma. They sink into your consciousness in such a way that you almost believe that what she’s telling…