Read “Left Leg, Just Above the Knee” here.
Jason Lee Brown was kind enough to answer a few questions about his story. He’s open to others if you have one of your own — feel free to leave your comment or question in the “comments” section below.
Keith Lesmeister: The opening line is a beauty, “Life would be livable if I could relieve this inner pull to amputate my left leg.” This sentence provides a sense of internal conflict, which starts the story in motion and drawing the reader in fully. It also introduces this distinct and unique voice — humorous, observant, and always honest. Could you discuss this narrative voice, perhaps offer a few thoughts about how it emerged.
Jason Lee Brown: I think the twist in the last four words of the sentence, “amputate my left leg,” is what blends tragedy and humor into the voice. I like rhythm and hidden musicality in my short prose, and this first line contains alliteration, assonance, meter, rhyme, and half rhyme. These poetry elements give the first half of the sentence an almost upbeat feeling before the grotesque twist of the last four words. I think that juxtaposition gives the line its voice.
KL: You accomplish a lot here in just under 700 words. Could you discuss how this story took shape. Did you start off knowing it would be a flash fiction piece?
JLB: I knew it would be a short piece, and by looks of the first line, it might have started out as a poem, but I’m not sure. I had run across this list of bizarre disorders, and BIID was one of them. I tried to write about four of the disorders, and this story is the one that took off. Once the first couple paragraphs took shape, I stayed with 100-150 word paragraph scenes to keep a consistent pacing. The most difficult part was finding an ending paragraph I was happy with.
KL: There’s a deft use of subversive humor in the piece that seems to underlie something…. a kind of melancholy, I think. Could you talk about how those two ideas work in tandem with each other in your story?
JLB: I try to use levity in the same way I use rhythm, musicality, and other poetic devices. Levity can help make tragic subject matter easier for the reader to ingest, but that has to come through in a way without marginalizing the character or the illness. This character’s underlying humor also comes from this place where his desire is considered a disorder, yet in the face of all opposition, he has this fuck-you attitude and determination that doesn’t stop.
KL: Since this is a blog celebrating short stories, could you share some thoughts about the short story, generally. Any favorites? What do you like about them? Do you find them challenging to read/write? Other thoughts?
JLB: Well, I like short stories enough to start my own anthology, so I am going to take this question as a chance to blatantly promote the soon to be released New Stories from the Midwest 2016 (New American Press), a best-of anthology that presents the most recently published short stories set in or inspired by the Midwestern United States. Here is the TOC.
Thomas M. Atkinson “Grimace in the Burnt Black Hills”
Charles Baxter “Forbearance”
Catherine Browder “Departures”
Claire Burgess “Upper Middle Class Houses”
Peter Ho Davies “Chance”
Stephanie Dickinson “JadeDragon_77”
Jack Driscoll “All the Time in the World”
Nick Dybek “Three Summers”
Stuart Dybek “Tosca”
Abby Geni “Dharma at the Gate”
Albert Goldbarth “Two brothers”
Baird Harper “Patient History”
Rebecca Makkai “Dead Turtle”
Monica McFawn “Out of the Mouths of Babes”
John McNally “The Magician”
Emily Mitchell “Three Marriages”
Devin Murphy “Levi’s Recession”
Joyce Carol Oates “A Book of Martyrs”
Lori Ostlund “The Gap Year”
Nicole Louise Reid “A Purposeful Violence”
Christine Sneed “In the Bag”
Anne Valente * “The Lost Caves of St. Louis” *
Lauren van den Berg “Lessons”
Josh Weil “Long Bright Line”
Theodore Wheeler “On a Train from the Place Called Valentine
Guest Editor Lee Martin “Introduction”
* Winner of the inaugural Jay Prefontaine Fiction Prize
Jason Lee Brown is the author of the novel, Prowler: The Mad Gasser of Mattoon, the novella, Championship Run, and the poetry chapbook, Blue Collar Fathers. He is the Series Editor of New Stories from The Midwest and a contributing editor of River Styx. His writing has appeared in numerous literary journals, including the Kenyon Review, Literary Review, North American Review, The Journal, Southern Humanities Review, and Ecotone. He earned his MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.