fiction

"Judaism is not a religion for cowards," he said.

Tehorah

By David Harris Ebenbach | November 7, 2005

Preaching purity, a man with a mission finds out how messy life can be.

"What was it like to commit suicide?"

Sitting Shiva

By Benjamin Weiner | September 22, 2005

Two lovers retrace the scars that brought them together.

"If someone calls you a shell," she asked, "do you think it's meant as a compliment?"

Seashell

By Holiday Reinhorn | August 10, 2005

In a church basement support group, the help you find isn’t always the help you’re looking for.

A mosque in Lahore.

The Moderate

By Abbas Zaidi | June 27, 2005

A tale of Westernization, lubricated by beer.

The Fortune Teller (detail), 1628

Reading Signs for the General

By Sean Manseau | May 12, 2005

When the stars fail to align, a fortune teller makes her own future.

"'Do you know anything about abduction?' he asked..."

The Soul Molecule

By Steve Almond | March 14, 2005

They are among us, and they are watching what they eat.

Peter Bruegel, "Fall of the Rebel Angels"

The Descent of Man

By Bia Lowe | December 21, 2004

The true story of the extinction of the angels.

"Adam and Eve Temptation 1," Oleg Maslov & Viktor Kouznetsov

Genesis, At Rest

By Steve Almond | June 25, 2004

When Adam and Eve fall, they fall hard.

Edith Wharton, b. 1862 - "'Edith? Is that you?' 'Yes,' the pen wrote, wobbling a little on its inky point."

Inflections

By Livia Kent | June 6, 2004

What do you call yourself when names like skin can be shed?

"What is it to be in the jaws of a lion, how must it feel to be eaten?"

Xmas in the Lions’ Den

By Eileen Myles | December 19, 2003

Or, “What’s Up, Daniel”; a tale of bibical danger retold for this most dangerous of seasons.

Domovoi

The Domovoi

By Irina Reyn | October 30, 2002

Can an ancient Russian ghost shed some light on a modern marriage in trouble?

Mesquite

Entrance Wound

By Charles Bowden | August 1, 2002

We believe in cells and protoplasm and sex, and stench and dirt and slime
and screams in the night.

kimmel

Amos Awake

By Haven Kimmel | July 3, 2002

Reading the book he’ll never write.

Tulip

Buddherotica

By Jeff Wilson | February 14, 2002

Sneak a peek at Siddhartha’s not-so-immaculate conception.

"Pigeons don't talk."

Another Room

By Eileen Myles | January 12, 2002

Remember when God was just another cashier behind the cage?

Killing the Buddha

White Challah

By Lamed Shapiro | November 14, 2001

“One day a neighbor broke the leg of a stray dog with a heavy stone, and when Vasil saw the sharp edge of the bone piercing the skin he cried.”

Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto

Princessing Lessons

By Tom Bradley | February 16, 2001

No need for jumbo-jets full of pre-pubescent sex slaves, Japan’s Great Goddess has arrived.

Torquemada

Torquemada

By Melvin Jules Bukiet | December 18, 2000

What if every prince or pope who ever stoned or burned the Chosen People had a party in your head?