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American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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Elizabeth McCracken

The Get-Go

Elizabeth McCracken
The Get-Go

Sadie’s mother was tall and narrow, with a long braid down her back, black when Sadie was very little, then silvery, then silver, an instrument to measure time, an atomic clock. Her father had been tall, too, both he and the mother the tallest members of short families. In photographs and at reunions, they loomed. Everyone was happy when they had a short child: they’d decided to fit in after all. Sadie was small and plump and blonde, and when she was nine, her father died, and it was just the … [Read more...] about The Get-Go

MFA for All Fall 2026: New classes with Laura van den Berg, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Mat Johnson! Register now.

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Join us for Story Sessions on 9/10 at Huston-Tillotson University: featuring Tayari Jones in conversation with ZZ Packer. RSVP now to save your spot!

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