All Dreams Come From Louisville

Rachael Sassara describes what it was like to find Nicholas Hilbourn’s “All Dreams Come From Louisville”

What struck me right away about this piece was its purposeful peculiarity. The narrator jumped off the page as offbeat and unique, but the intimate writing style made me feel like I was sitting with them on a surrealist plane to nowhere. A winning combo.

The life of the narrator felt full and familiar, and in short fiction the sensation of being plopped directly into the subject’s life is both crucial and difficult to execute while keeping the reader interested. Even with the specific detail of the narrator’s life, I felt it could have been me writing this letter.

Gripping short fiction asks questions, answers some, and leaves the rest up to the reader. Louisville did just that. Most of all, this piece jumped out at me because I’ve simply never read anything like it before. When I was finished, I sat back in my chair and thought about it for quite a while. That’s good art.