“The Bowling Story” by Jen Michalski

I haven’t been bowling in a while, but it is something David, Amber and I enjoy. We’re not great, David’s better than I am by far, but it’s fun. So the title is what attracted me to this story in The New Yinzer. I’m also glad I found The New Yinzer’s website. To be honest, I didn’t know Pittsburgh even had a literary magazine.

The story is about two couples, designated by letters, woman A, man B, that kind of thing. Actually, it’s not a story about the couples so much as a story about the story about the couples. I didn’t explain that well. It’s an interesting style, though. I can’t really describe it better.

The bowling story will begin and end in a bowling alley. There is a man, there is a woman, or maybe there are two couples. A team. There is no baby, although one of the women may be pregnant and not know it. Maybe one woman, A, is cheating on one man, B, with the other man, C. Maybe man B finds out because the man, C, and woman A have placed their initials together in the high score line of the Centipede machine.

The story also has musings in the writer’s voice, about a memory from her childhood, that she later incorporates in the story.

It’s been a while since I read a story in this style. I didn’t love it, and didn’t feel any connection to the characters, but I’ll probably remember it for a while.  You can find the story at The New Yinzer.

John hosts Short Story Monday at The Book Mine Set. Head over there to see what he and others have been reading.

The above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate.

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