About ten years ago, when I was working on “Scratching for Something,” I was fascinated with the back page classified ad section of The New York Press. At that time, the back page classifieds hosted all kinds of human appeal. Guileless personal ads, physics, ads thanking St. Jude, pornography and prostitution, cures for various physical [...]
She had been born with wings, huge magnificent dragonfly wings twelve feet in span, reflective, iridescent wings that made a thunderous, buzzing sound. She would fly with her mouth open and lips distended, gulping up songbirds and frightened sparrows. People gathered to watch for her but rarely saw her. When she did appear, she came, [...]
She had hundreds of tiny legs that she kept concealed under her clothes, and fine antennae tied back into her hair. At night she would unfurl her silky feelers and massage the air with her rippling rows of legs. Her body was segmented and she could move along the walls like a crustaceous snake. During [...]
There was a man who had hands for feet. He wore mittens for socks and walked with a skittering sideways step. During the day he collected material: strands of thread, rope and hair; things he could twist into a kind of yarn. The evenings he spent knitting with his four arms, moving like a monkey [...]