Smart
At the very top of the stack of moving boxes that loomed over Mary and Stanley Swain's newly arrived couch a small box was precariously perched. Mary was not concerned. She was cozied up on the couch in the sweater her friend Julia had knit her as a going away present, with a book about James Joyce's daughter at her feet. Her thoughts were on her unringing phone...
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Author's Note
This tale features a topic I have not seen a lot about in fiction: IQ. The fact it makes people uncomfortable but at the same time has such strange power over people and society is precisely why I wanted to write about it. Here is the opening paragraph. It was published today over at Intellectual Refuge. http://www.intellectualrefuge.com/vol1/smart
Other stories by Benjamin Matvey
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Hey Ben,
Just finished the complete piece, and I must say congratulations; "Smart" is one goddamn helluva story.
The way you weave the primary theme of the story, IQ, with otherwise normal literary themes (emotional insecurity, academia, etc.) forces the reader to view things through a different lens without taking away their ability to empathize. Sharp structure, truly smart, emotionally complex in a new way, this story is an accomplishment.
*
wow. Thank you so much! it's funny how difficult it was to find a home for the story, when I consider it hands-down the best short story I've ever written. Meanwhile, I've been lucky enough that pretty much every other short story I've considered "finished" I found a home for somewhere. Meanwhile I sent the story to absolutely every possible publisher and no one would take it. Very glad it finally found a home and that you enjoyed it!
Wow. Just read the full story. Most, most excellent. And, as a smart Mary who for years had library experience but no Master's - and therefore rejected from all librarian jobs - as well as having well-meaning, but misguided parents, this hit a little close to home. Fortunately, that's where the resemblance ends. But I will continue to hear your Mary whispering in this Mary's head.
Themes in this piece that make me love it:
Thoughts about her partner's lower IQ
Intellectual snobbery
Gender bias
Well-intentioned, but biased parents
Gladwellization of science
I could go on and on.
Impressed with the genderlessness of your writing, you know? It's totally believable. I hope to do as have as well when I write male characters.
Sometimes it's the more ambitious pieces that spend time bouncing from one literary foster home to another.