Editorial Assistant Jason Namey: I always love when authors use language in unexpected ways, but I especially love when authors—such as Adam Latham, in his story “The Goddamn Sorcerer of Love” from Issue 16.1 (read an excerpt here)—do this right from the opening sentence.
Latham’s story begins with the line: “The dog seller hawks mangy curs across from me at the flea market.” The rhythm of this sentence stands out immediately. I read this sentence out loud over and over again, taking pleasure in how the harsh-sounding “k” and “c” sounds of “hawks” and “curs” and “across” lead up to a rhyme between “me” and “flea.” Latham’s word choice also creates an enjoyable surprise, specifically his use of “hawks” as a verb. Since this word comes nested between references to animals, the reader sees the noun hiding behind the verb, drawing attention to the dog seller’s hawklike nature, foreshadowing the way he will swoop in on the narrator’s relationship.
Latham’s creative use of language also extends to repetitions, which he uses throughout the story to craft a voice that reads as both blunt and comic. Discussing his girlfriend Misty’s addiction to reality TV shows, Dan (the narrator), says, “She criticizes connections, as in ‘they don’t have a connection,’ like she’s an expert on connections.” Meeting the burly new dog seller, Dan remarks how the guy “shakes my hand like it’s a hand-breaking competition.”
In a larger sense, Latham uses repetitions to express the narrator’s yearning. For instance, the narrator repeatedly mentions the “invitation blanket,” a Crimson Tide blanket that Dan and Misty use to invite their dog Pete up onto the couch. Dan notes, though, that “it’s been a long time since Misty has pulled out the quote unquote invitation blanket for me,” turning the blanket into a metaphor for their lack of physical intimacy. When Dan sees Misty letting her new dog—a blue heeler purchased from Prince Beau, the aforementioned dog seller—up on the couch without the blanket, he immediately senses the negative implications this has for their relationship and kicks the new dog out.
Dan’s repeated references to the romance novels he sells show his desire for the type of passionate relationship he struggles to achieve with Misty. He often uses these novels as models for understanding the world. For example, after Misty leaves him, Dan still hopes that everything “will turn out okay, like in Mistress of the Magi. Misty will wake from her spell under the Dark Lord and return to me.”
There is also a subtle repetition in the way the first sentence of the story’s final paragraph calls back to the opening line: “The girl peddling knives is the best-looking woman at the flea market by a country mile.” Another newcomer has entered into Dan’s world. We understand that Dan’s life will perhaps consist of a series of repetitions, of sellers coming to, and leaving, the flea market. Some people, like the dog seller, bring nothing but trouble; others, like the knife peddler, provide optimism.
Jason Namey is a PhD student in creative writing and literature at the University of Cincinnati. His short fiction appears, or is forthcoming, in Post Road, Puerto del Sol, Juked, Hobart, Moon City Review, and elsewhere.
