{"id":150114,"date":"2020-12-22T12:14:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T17:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=150114"},"modified":"2020-12-22T12:35:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T17:35:47","slug":"redux-in-this-version-of-our-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/22\/redux-in-this-version-of-our-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Redux: In This Version of Our Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked pieces delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

J.\u2009G. Ballard. Photo: Fay Godwin.<\/p><\/div>\n

This week, The Paris Review<\/em> is in a holiday kind of mood. Read on for J.\u2009G. Ballard\u2019s Art of Fiction interview<\/a>, Ottessa Moshfegh\u2019s short story \u201cDancing in the Moonlight<\/a>,\u201d and Judy Longley\u2019s poem \u201cBrushfire at Christmas<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you enjoy these free interviews, stories, and poems, why not\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Paris Review<\/em>?\u00a0Or take advantage of our\u00a0new subscription bundle<\/a>, bringing you four issues of the print magazine, access to our full sixty-seven-year digital archive, and our new\u00a0TriBeCa tote<\/a>\u00a0for only $69 (plus free shipping!).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

J.\u2009G. Ballard, The Art of Fiction No. 85<\/a>
\nIssue no. 94, Winter 1984<\/em><\/p>\n

I have a sense of certain gathering obsessions and roles, certain corners of the field where the next stage of the hunt will be carried on. I know that if I don\u2019t write, say on holiday, I begin to feel unsettled and uneasy, as I gather people do who are not allowed to dream.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dancing in the Moonlight<\/a>
\nBy Ottessa Moshfegh
\nIssue no. 214, Fall 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

I met her two days before Christmas at a holiday pop-up market on the Lower East Side. This was 2006, and she was selling refurbished antique furniture, which she\u2019d placed around her taped-off space like someone\u2019s fancy living room. She wore tight red trousers and a black shirt that looked like the top of a ballerina\u2019s leotard. Her hair was frizzy, bleached blonde, and she had a lot of makeup on\u2014too much, I\u2019d say. Her face was pinched, as though she\u2019d just smelled someone farting. It was that look of revulsion that awoke something in me. She made me want to be a better man.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brushfire at Christmas<\/a>
\nBy Judy Longley
\nIssue no. 138, Spring 1996<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve followed the crumbs to your feast,
\nshare the table with Father again,<\/p>\n

his anger smoldering belly-deep
\nwhile Mother smiles, eyes darting,<\/p>\n

ready to peck with her sharp words.
\nIn this version of our lives<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Sis and you\u2019re Sonny, once children
\nof a powerful king. You serve platters<\/p>\n

of spiral-sliced ham while I butter
\nmy tongue, trapped in my wish<\/p>\n

to become an angel of peace, to swallow
\nlies past the lump in my throat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

And to read more from the\u00a0<\/em>Paris Review\u00a0archives, make sure to\u00a0subscribe<\/a>! In addition to four print issues per year, you\u2019ll also receive complete digital access to our sixty-seven years\u2019 worth of archives<\/em>. Or take advantage of our\u00a0new subscription bundle<\/a>, bringing you four issues of the print magazine, access to our full sixty-seven-year digital archive, and our new\u00a0TriBeCa tote<\/a>\u00a0for only $69 (plus free shipping!).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on J. G. Ballard\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a short story by Ottessa Moshfegh, and a poem by Judy Longley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31006],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-redux"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRedux: In This Version of Our Lives by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on J. G. 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