The blue box

By Ron Carlson

Subjects: FICTION / Short Stories (single author), FICTION / General, FICTION / Humorous, American Short stories, Fiction, short stories (single author)

Description: "Ron Carlson is a master of the contemporary short story. In The Blue Box, he extends that mastery to the short short story, offering us a captivating glimpse of a writer at play. With that voice of his-sharp, sensitive, and wry, brimming with good humor-Carlson inhabits one standby after another of the American pop landscape, past and present: monster flicks, action heroes, unsupervised teenagers, blogging. Coming in for special scrutiny is the world of education, in hilarious send-ups of recommendation letters, teacher evaluations, style guides, and a MOOC. Whimsical, wistful, and gently surreal, The Blue Box delights in life's unending absurdities, and reminds us not to take anything-especially ourselves-too seriously. "--