Waiting Out the End of the World in Patty's Place Cafe
Our third podcast for March is “Waiting Out the End of the World in Patty's Place Cafe” written by Naomi Kritzer and read by Kate Baker.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neil Clarke is the editor of Clarkesworld Magazine and Forever Magazine; owner of Wyrm Publishing; and a eight-time Hugo Award Nominee for Best Editor (short form). His anthologies include Upgraded, Galactic Empires, More Human Than Human, Touchable Unreality, The Final Frontier, Not One of Us, The Eagle has Landed, and the Best Science Fiction of the Years series. His most recent anthology, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 5, was published in October by Night Shade Books. He currently lives in NJ with his wife and two sons.
WEBSITE
PURCHASE THIS ISSUE:
ISSN 1937-7843 Clarkesworld Magazine © 2006-2021 Wyrm Publishing. Robot illustration by Serj Iulian.
Eric wrote on March 19th, 2017 at 2:36 pm:
Interesting take on the concept of family. I also think that nobody should stick with abusive people only because one is related to them. Family often enough has nothing to do with biology. It's the people who love you, respect you and take you for what you are who build your family. If that's your parents, siblings... perfect! But kinship alone is not enough.
Absolutely loved this story.
Marc wrote on March 24th, 2017 at 8:49 pm:
I loved, loved, loved this one. Kate, you're right, Naomi Kritzer has wonderful insight into 'peopleness'. And your reading was absolutely riveting.
Languorous Lass wrote on April 6th, 2017 at 5:02 am:
As a cis lesbian, I thought this story had a slightly over-earnest tone -- like it was coming from someone who meant well, but was not necessarily speaking from lived experience. I don't know Kritzer's sexual orientation (I checked her website, and saw that she is also cis, although clearly trans-supportive), so it may simply be that she's accustomed to writing for YA audiences. I agree with the commenters who praised Kritzer's capturing the way people would behave if an asteroid were headed in this direction-- although I do find it a bit hard to believe that, with all of the astronomers all over the world, we would be so reliant on a single observatory in order to determine whether a large chunk of the planet was going to be wiped out.