Danielle Evans, who published her 2010 story collection Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self to great acclaim and has fans including Alicia Keys and Roxane Gay, has said she writes long, rather than short, stories – and this new collection certainly provides space to explore knotty subject matter.
In “Boys Go to Jupiter”, a picture of a white college student wearing a Confederate flag bikini goes viral. The image antagonises her black hallmate Carmen, who reposts it, and Claire – the bikini wearer – receives angry, supportive and even pornographic messages.
Carmen moves dorm for her own safety, but Evans writes the story from the point of view of Claire, showing the way in which a social media storm can develop its own momentum: “Her student account’s address has been posted on several message boards and #clairewilliamsvacationideas is a locally trending topic (Auschwitz, My Lai, Wounded Knee).”
