June 8th, 2026 - Stories

Dear TNY,

I waited a day to do the final two stories from the fiction issue; “Stories” was my first of those two.

I am 100% sure that no one, I mean fucking NO ONE, understands what “exceptional literature” means.  This includes myself.  I think people who don’t know shit about shit say some shit is good and some shit is bad and then people listen to them.  This story, of course, is bad.  It’s not good in any way other than it is by someone that won the Nobel Prize in Literature.  So it must be good, right?

Nope.

Which calls into question the author.  Which calls into question the decision-making capabilities of the Nobel Committee.  Which calls into question the educational systems and/or the bodies teaching the committee what literature is.  Which calls into question humanity, as a whole, and their ability to appreciate “exceptional literature”.  Which calls into question the artform.  Which calls into question questioning all the aspects of the art, and art in general.

We must conclude then, from this showing, that no one, including myself, knows shit about shit.  And that everyone you meet who admits to being “smart” or “knowledgeable” or “intelligent” or anything of the ilk is wrong. 

We are apes convinced we matter and what we do matters.  But 100 years from now, only a handful of us will be worth remembering, and of those, likely 90% will be for negative reasons.

Or, this story just isn’t any good and we all flub a few; and it’s not all bad all over. There are those right here/right now that are beautiful beyond measure, twinkling their way across the cosmos, angels among us.

Thanks for the short read.

Nick