Watchlist Countdown, Day 2: “Nighttime of the City” by Robert Coover

She drifts through the bleak nighttime of the city like an image loosely astir in a sleeping head, disturbing its rest, destined for the violent surreality of dreams.
       from “Nighttime of the City” by Robert Coover

This short story which opens Watchlist is Grade A noir from one of our most interesting writers of short fiction.  Fans of Robert Coover (Pricksongs & Descants: Fictions, The Origin of the Brunists, etc.) will find much to love here; those new to Coover's mind-bending metafiction might feel like they've just walked through a four-page maze.  “Nighttime of the City” begins with the clock of heels on wet pavement and ends with the rattle of gunfire.  In between, it's a delicious mindfuck of a story.

Watchlist: 32 Short Stories by Persons of Interest, edited by Bryan Hurt, will be published by O/R Books on May 21.  The “persons of interest” contributing short stories to the anthology include Etgar Keret, Robert Coover, Aimee Bender, Jim Shepard, Alissa Nutting, Charles Yu, Cory Doctorow, David Abrams, Randa Jarrar, Katherine Karlin, Miracle Jones, Mark Irwin, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Dale Peck, Bonnie Nadzam, Lucy Corin, Chika Unigwe, Paul Di Filippo, Lincoln Michel, Dana Johnson, Mark Chiusano, Juan Pablo Villalobos, Chanelle Benz, Sean Bernard, Kelly Luce, Zhang Ran, Miles Klee, Carmen Maria Machado, Steven Hayward, Deji Bryce Olukotun, Alexis Landau and Bryan Hurt.

Pre-order your copy here