Review: Jake McAuliffe's "And What of the Moth"

by Kate Doughty.


At times both surreal and delightfully comic, "And What of the Moth" reads like a bureaucratic fever dream in the best possible way. Fans of liminal spaces, backrooms, and dry humor will find themselves drawn into this piece as our narrator stands in an endless line, waiting for the answer to some questions:

Where do pensions go when we die? And when can I leave this queue?
          
We wait in line with the narrator as the world revolves around them: punks ‘de-punk,’ friends appear and vanish, birdsong grows more and more sinister. This piece captures the feeling of listlessness and disillusionment, and, finally, of transformation.

 After all, where there is a moth, there must be a flame—or is there?

“In the queue, we had to pretend that cliché was the height of embarrassment—and moths, lights, you get it.”

Tongue-in-cheek yet sensitive, bizarre yet familiar, this piece is like listening to your favorite pop song in a minor key. Equal parts strange and beautiful, "And What of the Moth" will linger in reader’s minds long after they break away from the page.

read mcauliffe's piece in issue 1