Jennifer Egan Publishes New Short Story Disguised as List

By Jason Boog 

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan has published a new 300-word short stort story at the Guardian–a dark and suspenseful tale told entirely through a “To Do” list.

Egan has experimented with writing modes for years. Her critically acclaimed novel A Visit from the Goon Squad included a section written as a PowerPoint presentation. You can see the slideshow here.

Above, we’ve embedded a video shot during Egan’s presentation at BEA 2010 about PowerPoint fiction. Egan spoke at the 7x20x21 event that year, a discussion curated by Ryan Chapman and Ami Greko.

Here’s an excerpt from “To Do”:

9. Buy wig

10. See if small removable portion of fence can be cut QUIETLY

a. Kinds of clippers

b. Metal solvents

c. Electrical devices