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If That's All There Is
"“If That’s All There Is," is a story taken from Mona Awad's debut collection, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl. The narrator is the recipient of a dubious overture from her co-worker, Archibald, but the story becomes about so much more than the relationship. It is about the sometimes unfathomable insanity of attraction. It is about the daily, deadly concessions women so often make. That ruinous compulsion to accommodate. It is about the way the most unlikely person can have the power to make us, for a moment, feel at home in our own skin—even if, at the same time, they are contributing to our unraveling." - Laura van den Berg, Author of Find Me
About the Author: Mona Awad received her MFA in fiction from Brown University. Her work has appeared in McSweeney’s, The Walrus, Joyland, Post Road, St. Petersburg Review, and many other journals. She is currently pursuing a PhD in creative writing and English literature at the University of Denver.
About the Guest Editor: Laura van den Berg was raised in Florida and earned her M.F.A. at Emerson College. Her first collection of stories, What The World Will Look Like When All The Water Leaves Us (Dzanc Books, 2009), was a Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" selection. Her second collection of stories, The Isle of Youth, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in November 2013, won the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters and The Bard Fiction Prize, and was named a "Best Book of 2013" by over a dozen venues, including NPR, The Boston Globe, and O, The Oprah Magazine. Both collections were shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. Her first novel, Find Me, was published by FSG in February 2015.
About the Publisher: Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction.
About the Author: Mona Awad received her MFA in fiction from Brown University. Her work has appeared in McSweeney’s, The Walrus, Joyland, Post Road, St. Petersburg Review, and many other journals. She is currently pursuing a PhD in creative writing and English literature at the University of Denver.
About the Guest Editor: Laura van den Berg was raised in Florida and earned her M.F.A. at Emerson College. Her first collection of stories, What The World Will Look Like When All The Water Leaves Us (Dzanc Books, 2009), was a Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" selection. Her second collection of stories, The Isle of Youth, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in November 2013, won the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters and The Bard Fiction Prize, and was named a "Best Book of 2013" by over a dozen venues, including NPR, The Boston Globe, and O, The Oprah Magazine. Both collections were shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. Her first novel, Find Me, was published by FSG in February 2015.
About the Publisher: Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction.
24 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 22, 2016
9 people are currently reading
769 people want to read
About the author
Mona Awad
12 books8,669 followersMona Awad is the bestselling author of the novels BUNNY, ROUGE, ALL'S WELL and 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A FAT GIRL. She is a three time finalist for a Goodreads Choice Award, a finalist for the Giller Prize, and a winner of the Amazon Best First Novel Award. BUNNY was also a finalist for the New England Book Award and it won the Ladies of Horror Fiction Best Novel Award. It's currently in development for film with Bad Robot Productions. Her forthcoming novel, WE LOVE YOU, BUNNY will be released with Simon & Schuster in September 2025.
She earned an MFA from Brown University and an MScR in English from the University of Edinburgh where her dissertation was on fear in the fairy tale. In 2018, she completed a Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literary Studies at the University of Denver. She currently teaches creative writing at Syracuse University and lives in Boston.
She earned an MFA from Brown University and an MScR in English from the University of Edinburgh where her dissertation was on fear in the fairy tale. In 2018, she completed a Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literary Studies at the University of Denver. She currently teaches creative writing at Syracuse University and lives in Boston.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 5, 2021
Average guy meets & cheats on insecure-but-hot woman. There's another woman who is kind of psycho, and a lot of body positivity brought on by his strange and salacious methods of worship. This was yikes with a capital Y. Ick factor hitting hard with this one.
July 28, 2025
Proxy for ‘Chartreuse’ - New Yorker short story discussed w Ann’s book club. Great insights into loneliness, obsession and addiction. Interesting use of personification.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews