Issue #11 of A Public Space: For Art & Argument, Fact & Fiction

I picked up the most recent issue of A Public Space, a literary magazine comprised of fiction, poetry, essays and visual art. I wanted to read something that I could finish before I go to sleep and the pieces in this provided just that.

I'm able to see inside the cluttered and inspiring mind of Allan Gurganus, an author who still has his childhood toys, a chair purchased at age 11, plus a plethora of other items accrued over the years. Photographs of these artifacts provide a window for me as the reader — I'm not sure what I learn about him, but I'm fascinated by the busted head bust, the Chinese fans and the fanged man gold mask.

In Melissa Pritchard's short story, I see bodies in an entirely different light. Ecorché, Or Flayed Man, takes place in Florence, Italy in 1798. The characters are all connected to a museum and, specifically, the efforts of understanding human anatomy. Corpses are gathered and used; some have hopes to learn what is killing their loved ones, others want a greater understanding of the universe.

The museum director, for example, "found he cared only for three things — his hives of Italian honeybees, the creation of a giant anatomical man of pine, and deciphering, before he died, the hexagonal codes of the universe."

My for my late night reading, these short jaunts into other worlds — be they fictitious or otherwise — are exactly what I need. Finite and occasionally strange, it is a way to escape before I return to the mundane.

Julia Eussen received her B.A. in English from Kansas State University. She is currently a graduate student in Eastern Michigan University's Professional Writing Program. She is also an active member of the Ann Arbor Classics Book Group and has recently begun to re-acquaint herself with good poetry. She can be reached at jeussen at emich dot com.