A recent conversation reminded me of something I once read. It was in a Playboy magazine, likely mid-80s, and it was either a short story or an excerpt from a novel if Playboy even does that kind of thing. From what I remember it was written in the first person about a guy (a reporter?) who hears about this Vietnam vet that has learned some art of tattooing which acts as the perfect camouflage. [more inside]
posted by komara on Jun 20, 2011 - 8 answers

I'm trying to come up with the name of a short story I read eight or ten years ago. It is a first-person narrative of the domestic life of a cynically detached man who lives with his wife and kid. [more inside]
posted by churl on Jun 4, 2011 - 2 answers

ID That Story: novel (novella? short story?) in which a man is standing in line. Pretty much the entire story is his experience while waiting in line. It's a future/dystopia story. The man is waiting in line to make a complaint. He falls in love with the girl in front of him, though she's not allowed to turn and look at him. It's a parable about overpopulation. It was probably written in the 60s or 70s. That's all I remember.
posted by grumblebee on Nov 20, 2008 - 8 answers

I remember a friend of mine telling me about a short story/novel/novella about a baseball pitcher whose pitched balls disappeared after leaving his hand, only to reappear in a totally different place and kill someone. There's [more inside]
posted by reenum on Nov 22, 2006 - 9 answers