Joshua Vigil

May 23, 2024 | chireviewofbooks.com | Joshua Vigil

“Each of us who grew up on the internet filled our squishy, spongy brains with hyper-specific signifiers,” Honor Levy writes half-way through her delightful debut, My First Book. But here lies the double-edged sword of a short story collection like Levy’s: when you pack a story with “hyper-specific signifiers,” do you risk alienating an audience? A part of me worries for the reader not invited to the party. Another part of me is too busy having a good time.

Jan 25, 2024 | joylandmagazine.com | Joshua Vigil |Ashleigh Bryant Phillips

Ever been to a gay bar? said the older man. He was slumped in a chair. We were in the waiting room, the aesthetician. There was a lone lobster in a fish tank beside us, bubbling. He nodded towards it. Can’t tell if you’re the type, he said. Or too much of a prude? Before I could respond, he waved this comment away, meaty palm quartering the air. Gay bars are like lobster tanks, he said, only without the rubber bands. How’s that? Without the rubber bands, they cannibalize each other. Don’t you know?