★★★★
Neil and Other Stories (WhiskeyTit, 2018) is the sharp edge of a bed frame, jutting out in the dark. It jabs into your shin, and the feeling bruises, lingers. But this time, strangely enough, you’re kind of glad it happened.
“My shadow points at my stomach, giggles at its oblong shape.”
Twenty-five different stories make up the first sixty-five pages of this stellar microfiction collection by J. Bradley. The author thrusts us into the lives of everyday individuals with ease, illustrating their pains in realistic situations and guiding them toward change and contemplation—nearly all within 300 words.
And lucky for IBR, this collection is also styled with just the right amount of strange. The structure of Bradley’s “Job Aid” stories fit that unique mold the best:
Imagine that you’ve just started a job. You walk over to your new desk, and there’s instructions waiting on top, formatted…
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Joseph Walters 
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