on my lunch break today, i read chimamanda's delicious new short story, "ceiling," in the summer issue of granta. i took too long on break, so i didn't have time to copy down an excerpt for you. it's only available in print, so forgive the disappointment if you visited the link. i will have to pop by mcnally jackson again this week and excerpt it for you. i wish i could also scan the image facing the story of a woman standing like an amazon over an entire city--her right foot in one neighborhood, and the left in another. but, sadly, i can't afford granta.

"ceiling" is about a man who marries and then realizes he is no longer in love with his wife or his life, the revelation brought on by an email from a former girlfriend. there's something refreshingly transgressive about stories with africans on blackberrys. i am definitely sold.

this topic, about falling out of love with one's life, keeps popping up for me, first in a short story by one of my writing workshop colleagues, and then in the film revolutionary road, that i finally saw last night. i suppose it is only because i am not happy with my life either--stuck in this job, trying to figure out what's next.

if only these stories also came with answers. --AL.