The "flat" narrative. (from the Copper Canyon Press catalogue that just reached my mailbox)

"The grandmother wants me to excise a little freckle like a teardrop just below her granddaughter's left eye."

"Our colonial was the only blue one in the neighborhood, a color I liked, but I wasn't allowed to paint it with my father when it needed a fresh coat."

"When my propane ran out when I was gone and the food thawed in the freezer..."

".... finally I'm alone with the television as you are ..."

"A breeze nudges the empty aluminum boat as it drifts at the end of its rope, its lightness wallowing within it like a fat man who has fished all day."

"He is sulking again because whatever she does it's the wrong thing or she's talking to somebody else and he can't stand it. But he won't tell her about it oh no he walks away from the museum shop."