A Brief Alphabet of Torture: Stories

148 Pages·2017·0.691 MB·English

by  Vi Khi Nao

A BRIEF ALPHABET
OF TORTURE

A BRIEF ALPHABET
OF TORTURE
STORIES
VI KHI NAO
FC2
tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2017 by Vi Khi Nao
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487–0380
All rights reserved
FC2 is an imprint of the University of Alabama Press
Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be addressed to
the University of Alabama Press
Book Design: Publications Unit, Department of English, Illinois State
University; Director: Steve Halle, Production Assistant: Sarah Lyons
Cover Design: Lou Robinson
Typeface: Garamond
The author gratefully acknowledges the following journals in which stories
in A Brief Alphabet of Torture: Stories first appeared, sometimes in slightly
different form: NOON, Hobart, SmokeLong Quarterly, Mud Season Review, and
alice blue.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nao, Vi Khi, 1979- author.
Title: A brief alphabet of torture : stories / Vi Khi Nao.
Description: Tuscaloosa : FC2, [2017]
Identifiers: LCCN 2017005462 (print) | LCCN 2017010987 (ebook) |
ISBN
9781573660617 (softcover) | ISBN 9781573668729 (Ebook)
Classification: LCC PS3614.A63 A6 2017 (print) | LCC PS3614.A63
(ebook) | DDC
813/.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017005462
for Hồ Xuân Hương

CONTENTS
I
Thighs of Nymphs / 3
Doing an Eva Hesse on a Man / 9
I Love You Me Neither / 13
The Bald Sparrow / 17
II
Suicide Bomber // 29
A Child’s Face Has Been Pickpocketed by Terrorists // 31
A Blanket of Sarcophagi // 33
In a Sexual Slang // 35
My Wife’s Ears and Nose // 37
The Room Is Bare // 41
The Earth Needs a Little Mouth // 43
A Brief Alphabet of Torture // 47
III
The Myth of Dara Chromosome /// 53
Arrangements /// 55
The Watermelon Body /// 59
Sexual Dogs /// 67
The House of Utensils /// 75
IV
I Ask the Sentence //// 83
Furtive Bras //// 85
Winter Rose //// 95
V
The Boy and the Mountain ///// 105
A BRIEF ALPHABET
OF TORTURE