The Blue Box

Ron Carlson is a master of the contemporary short story. In <i>The Blue Box</i> he extends that mastery to the short short story offering us a captivating glimpse of a writer at play. With that voice of his—sharp sensitive and wry brimming with good humor—Carlson inhabits one standby after another of the American pop landscape past and present: monster flicks action heroes unsupervised teenagers blogging. Coming in for special scrutiny is the world of education in hilarious send-ups of recommendation letters teacher evaluations style guides and a MOOC. Whimsical wistful and gently surreal <i>The Blue Box</i> delights in life’s unending absurdities and reminds us not to take anything—especially ourselves—too seriously.