STORY INFO
Leaving the Almost Palindrome City: Notes from a Second-Rate Villain
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Author
Robert Egan
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Categories
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Danh mục
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Update
6 months ago
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Part Chapter
1/??
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Reads
124
Content
What do you do when you realize you're not the hero of your own story? I, for one, have fallen in love, and as this city squeezes itself ever tighter to fit some preordained golden proportion, I take solace in the chaos my love has caused me. Picture a peacock clock stretching across a city block, all wrought in gold and fashioned after the automatons of old, a nest of gears and sprockets residing in a co...
Outstanding reviews
Hi Robert!Oh my goodness the incredible pros for this piece was beautiful. I noticed that some of the other writers were pointing out other pieces of writing that they thought of when reading this story so I thought I would add my own. As a child, my sister was obsessed with the book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabaret.” It included, stunning illustrations of clocks, and my mind immediately went back to that place while reading this piece. Your exceptional imagery truly jumped off the page. Congratulations on the short list!!
Congrats on your story! The dialogue reminds me of the Phantom Tollbooth. You walk the line between prose and poetry. Very creative.-H.M.Pierce
Thank you, H.M. Pierce! I love the Phantom Tollbooth and re-read it recently.
https://exampledomain.com/?u=XXXXX&o=YYYYY
I love how specific the world you created is. This is the kind of offbeat writing I enjoy in my spare time and I'm thrilled to see it on here. Well done.
Thanks Kevin, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story!
Congrats. Your description ability is worth learning from. Fine work.
Thank you, Philip!
Such an art. Congrats on shortlist. Must read your previous one. For some reason don't recall it though it was recent. Must have missed it that week.
Thanks Mary!
Congratulations! This is such a bizarre world and story with so much going on it's breathtaking. This had to have taken ages to put together! Master craftsmanship I am in awe. Beautiful!
Thank you, Derrick! Your comment means a lot to me because I really want to be able to build worlds. I wrote this one specifically for what I thought was an awesome prompt, but the "Great Disconnection" detail mentioned in passing here actually comes from an earlier Quantum Banana story for another prompt. So, they're probably part of the same world with this one coming 20 to 30 years later!
Interesting! Ill check that out 🤘
Congrats on another shortlist! :)
Thank you sir! I'm really happy about this one.
Well written. Love the imaginary
Glad you liked it! Thanks for reading it.
Brilliant. Possibly the best story I’ve ever read on Reedsy. It’s very James Thurber, so quirky and playful and also really serious about the business of narrative. I started to flag lines like this: « If she were a clock, she'd run both fast and slow. Her yawns last eons as she scrapes graphite across paper as if trying to set it on fire » to compliment you on, but then I realized it’s all I’d do today. Love it!
Wow, thank you for the high praise, Anne! I have to confess I'm not familiar with James Thurber, but your comment has convinced me to check out The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Your kind words made my day, and I'm looking forward to reading more of your stories as well.
I don’t know that one. I was thinking of his children’s books The Wonderful O and The Thirteen Clocks. Yours isn’t for kids, but it has the same mad quality and live of words
Congratulations. I'm happier that this got shortlisted than if mine own had!
Thanks Anne!
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