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March 28, 2024, 03:31:42 PM

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Identifying a Short Story

Started by buttgammon, November 28, 2019, 12:22:23 AM

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buttgammon

This is a bit of a long shot but it's worth a go. For some time, my girlfriend has been trying to remember a particular short story (or possibly part of a novel). It also rings a bell with me, and we've been driving ourselves mad trying to identify it.

What she remembers is that there's a man who makes model houses and steps on them at night. Little fragments of them get embedded in his skin and he walks around all day with pain because of it. He has a wife and child who live with him, and he also has a collection of obscure musical instruments. I don't have a specific recollection, but the idea of the man building and crushing the houses at night while his wife and child are asleep is very familiar.

It's definitely not 'Scale' by Will Self and it's nothing to do with the weird Craigslist post of that man who has a fetish for blokes kicking around model trains in his garage. We both think it's probably fairly recent and American, but this could be wrong.

popcorn

It's one of the Chuck Palahniuks.

buttgammon

Quote from: popcorn on November 28, 2019, 12:27:13 AM
It's one of the Chuck Palahniuks.

Sounds about right - I'll see if that sheds any light for my girlfriend.

popcorn

It's funny because I've read that one (I think it was a novel, not a short story) and the steeple of a house getting stuck in his foot is the only thing I remember about it. I've looked at a few plot synopses on Wikipedia but none of them mention the house-stamping. It's deffo Chuck though.

buttgammon

It's Lullaby - the Wikipedia page doesn't mention it but it's in a review on The Guardian. No idea how I remember some of these details because I've never read it. Thanks for solving this!

popcorn

I will now hijack this thread to ask about a short story I've been looking for for years. This was about ten years ago and it was posted online and  shared on places like the Something Awful forums (in one of the more creative arty farty subsections).

It was a group of travelers going through a post-apocalyptic USA. So yeah, heard that one before I know, but it was really fresh, funny, and dry, and it involved going to a Starbucks (or similar franchise thing, now ruined).

That's all I remember. Help please.

Icehaven

It wasn't As Good As New by C J Anders was it? Probably not as it doesn't quite fit your description but worth a shot.