THE OUGHTS
Richard Rosenbaum • $0.99
Collected in FPQ Summer 2011
Polly knows what she wants: to be in the greatest band in the world. Oliver knows what he wants: Polly. Together they are The Oughts, a duo trying to attain the unattainable, one basic chord at a time.
Collected in FPQ Summer 2011
Polly knows what she wants: to be in the greatest band in the world. Oliver knows what he wants: Polly. Together they are The Oughts, a duo trying to attain the unattainable, one basic chord at a time.
Praise for The Oughts
“Richard Rosenbaum’s The Oughts jabs its sticky little fingers right into your heart and swirls them around in there for a long, long time. Its characters unfold in pitch-perfect awkwardness and tender apathy, and readers will be struck by the surreal hinges and twitching imagery that Rosenbaum flawlessly weaves in. Writers in the audience should take note: Rosenbaum has created a writhing work of fiction that any scribe would aspire to be capable of pulling off.”
— Liz Worth, author of Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond and Eleven: Eleven
“Richard Rosenbaum’s The Oughts jabs its sticky little fingers right into your heart and swirls them around in there for a long, long time. Its characters unfold in pitch-perfect awkwardness and tender apathy, and readers will be struck by the surreal hinges and twitching imagery that Rosenbaum flawlessly weaves in. Writers in the audience should take note: Rosenbaum has created a writhing work of fiction that any scribe would aspire to be capable of pulling off.”
— Liz Worth, author of Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond and Eleven: Eleven
Preview
Oliver goes straight for it, sweeps it up in his arms (it’s sitting on a tiny amp that is included with the guitar!) and holds it to his face like he’s listening for its heartbeat. And indeed, it feels a little warm, warmer than plasticized metal really ought to feel, and he can almost detect, he thinks, a slight, distant pulse emanating from inside it. It feels and sounds, comfortingly, like hugging his cat, except not furry and not trying desperately to escape from his needy clutches. Anyone who knew anything about guitars might have been slightly alarmed by these tonalities and temperatures. But not Oliver. No, Oliver is in love. He calls to Polly.
Polly sidles up, looks it over. “That guitar,” she says, “is a complete piece of shit.”
Oliver turns to her, grinning, holding the instrument to his face so it appears to sprout from the side of his head like a grotesque cybernetic tumour. Looking at Polly and the guitar at the same time makes Oliver so happy he could burst. “I know,” he says. “Isn’t it great?”
Polly’s eyes narrow. Her gloved hands twist the blue dress between them. Her lips widen in something that’s neither smile nor scowl. With total sincerity she says, “Yeah.” She says, “It’s pretty fucking great.”
Oliver goes straight for it, sweeps it up in his arms (it’s sitting on a tiny amp that is included with the guitar!) and holds it to his face like he’s listening for its heartbeat. And indeed, it feels a little warm, warmer than plasticized metal really ought to feel, and he can almost detect, he thinks, a slight, distant pulse emanating from inside it. It feels and sounds, comfortingly, like hugging his cat, except not furry and not trying desperately to escape from his needy clutches. Anyone who knew anything about guitars might have been slightly alarmed by these tonalities and temperatures. But not Oliver. No, Oliver is in love. He calls to Polly.
Polly sidles up, looks it over. “That guitar,” she says, “is a complete piece of shit.”
Oliver turns to her, grinning, holding the instrument to his face so it appears to sprout from the side of his head like a grotesque cybernetic tumour. Looking at Polly and the guitar at the same time makes Oliver so happy he could burst. “I know,” he says. “Isn’t it great?”
Polly’s eyes narrow. Her gloved hands twist the blue dress between them. Her lips widen in something that’s neither smile nor scowl. With total sincerity she says, “Yeah.” She says, “It’s pretty fucking great.”
Collected in
FPQ 2011
The Complete Collection
Featuring stories by Caroline Adderson, Meghan Rose Allen, Jack Bootle, Julie Dupuis, Cynthia Flood, Andrew Forbes, Danny Goodman, Pauline Holdstock, Lee Kvern, Kirsty Logan, Dave Margoshes, Don McLellan, Maria Meindl, Grace O'Connell, Richard Rosenbaum, and Lana Storey.
Click on cover for more info
FPQ 2011
The Complete
Collection
$12.99
The Complete Collection
Featuring stories by Caroline Adderson, Meghan Rose Allen, Jack Bootle, Julie Dupuis, Cynthia Flood, Andrew Forbes, Danny Goodman, Pauline Holdstock, Lee Kvern, Kirsty Logan, Dave Margoshes, Don McLellan, Maria Meindl, Grace O'Connell, Richard Rosenbaum, and Lana Storey.
Click on cover for more info
FPQ 2011
The Complete
Collection
$12.99
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Featuring Obscure Objects by Caroline Adderson, The Oughts by Richard Rosenbaum, The Last Judgement by Maria Meindl, and Bright Lights on Broadway by Dave Margoshes.
Click on cover for more info
FPQ Summer 2011
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$3.75
Featuring Obscure Objects by Caroline Adderson, The Oughts by Richard Rosenbaum, The Last Judgement by Maria Meindl, and Bright Lights on Broadway by Dave Margoshes.
Click on cover for more info
FPQ Summer 2011
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$3.75
Obscure Objects
Coming out of an unhappy relationship and a stint at an artists’ colony, Charlotte, a writer, takes a job teaching at a private ESL college. There she befriends Renata—audacious, sexy, and as changeable as Proteus. “I have a story for you,” Renata says to her one day over lunch. She doesn’t elaborate further, but Charlotte soon discovers that she has found in Renata an unexpectedly passionate and compelling subject.
Click on cover for more info
Obscure Objects
Caroline Adderson
$0.99
Coming out of an unhappy relationship and a stint at an artists’ colony, Charlotte, a writer, takes a job teaching at a private ESL college. There she befriends Renata—audacious, sexy, and as changeable as Proteus. “I have a story for you,” Renata says to her one day over lunch. She doesn’t elaborate further, but Charlotte soon discovers that she has found in Renata an unexpectedly passionate and compelling subject.
Click on cover for more info
Obscure Objects
Caroline Adderson
$0.99
Bright Lights on Broadway
Having lived a long, eventful life, Charlie Weinheimer’s only regret is that he has no one to carry on after him. After a near-death experience, he resolves to find out whether a secret buried in his past is proof he has a legacy after all.
Click on cover for more info
Bright Lights on Broadway
Dave Margoshes
$0.99
Having lived a long, eventful life, Charlie Weinheimer’s only regret is that he has no one to carry on after him. After a near-death experience, he resolves to find out whether a secret buried in his past is proof he has a legacy after all.
Click on cover for more info
Bright Lights on Broadway
Dave Margoshes
$0.99
The Last Judgment
Charlotte is on the cusp of adolescence, and her world is being turned upside down. Unable to turn to her distant mother or absent father, she searches for guidance on the streets of downtown Toronto - and discovers God (or some version of Him) in the gutter.
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The Last Judgment
Maria Meindl
$0.99
Charlotte is on the cusp of adolescence, and her world is being turned upside down. Unable to turn to her distant mother or absent father, she searches for guidance on the streets of downtown Toronto - and discovers God (or some version of Him) in the gutter.
Click on cover for more info
The Last Judgment
Maria Meindl
$0.99
