Paper Masks

The narrator of "Paper Masks" is employed as a construction worker by a corporation that is literally faceless; employees must wear paper masks over their nose and mouth to prevent against a tenacious sickness known only as "the crud." When the narrator receives his masks at orientation, "nested inside each other like cups... stiff and light, like a bouquet of dried flowers," the description evokes the masks worn by plague doctors, who stuffed dried flowers into their beaks to avoid the smells of the dying. Reading that sentence, one can only imagine what horrors await. - Halimah Marcus

About the Author: Jim Ruland is the author of the novel Forest of Fortune and the short story collection Big Lonesome, and the co-author of My Damage with Keith Morris, founding member of Black Flag, Circle Jerks and OFF! He runs the Southern California-based reading series Vermin on the Mount, now in its fourteenth year. "Paper Masks" is part of a linked collection of short stories.

About the Publisher: Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature's weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction. Recommended Reading is supported by the Amazon Literary Partnership, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For other links from Electric Literature, follow us, or sign up for our eNewsletter.


Genre: Mystery