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Mon, Jun 04 2012 08:36:44

Jennifer Egan's Black Box

New Yorker magazine has been sharing the author's new short story 140 characters at a time via Twitter.

  1. The approximately 8,500-word story revolves around a character introduced in her 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit From the Goon Squad. Read on for a recap of the tweets!
  2. Spokejournal
    ·
    Fri, May 25 2012 10:55:22
  3. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    People rarely look the way you expect them to, even when you’ve seen pictures.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:09:51
  4. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    The first thirty seconds in a person’s presence are the most important.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:10:51
  5. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    If you’re having trouble perceiving and projecting, focus on projecting.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:11:52
  6. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Necessary ingredients for a successful projection: giggles; bare legs; shyness.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:12:51
  7. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    The goal is to be both irresistible and invisible.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:13:50
  8. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    When you succeed, a certain sharpness will go out of his eyes.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:14:50
  9. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Some powerful men actually call their beauties “Beauty.”
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:15:50
  10. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Counter to reputation, there is a deep camaraderie among beauties.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:16:50
  11. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    If your Designated Mate is widely feared, the beauties at the house party where you’ve gone undercover to meet him will be especially kind.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:17:51
  12. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Kindness feels good, even when it’s based on a false notion of your identity and purpose.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:18:50
  13. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Posing as a beauty means not reading what you would like to read on a rocky shore in the South of France.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:19:50
  14. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Sunlight on bare skin can be as nourishing as food.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:20:50
  15. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Even a powerful man will be briefly self-conscious when he first disrobes to his bathing suit.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:21:49
  16. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    It is technically impossible for a man to look better in a Speedo than in swim trunks.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:22:51
  17. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    If you love someone with dark skin, white skin looks drained of something vital.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:23:51
  18. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    When you know that a person is violent and ruthless, you will see violent ruthlessness in such basic things as his swim stroke.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:24:50
  19. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    “What are you doing?” from your Designated Mate amid choppy waves after he has followed you into the sea may or may not betray suspicion.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:25:50
  20. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    Your reply—“Swimming”—may or may not be perceived as sarcasm.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:26:50
  21. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    “Shall we swim together toward those rocks?” may or may not be a question.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:27:50
  22. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    “All that way?” will, if spoken correctly, sound ingenuous.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:28:50
  23. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    “We’ll have privacy there” may sound unexpectedly ominous.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:29:50
  24. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    A hundred feet of blue-black Mediterranean will allow you ample time to deliver a strong self-lecture.
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:30:50
  25. NYerFiction
    New Yorker Fiction@NYerFiction
    At such moments, it may be useful to explicitly recall your training:
    Thu, May 24 2012 17:31:51

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