the story of how all animals are EQUAL & other tales MATT RUNKLE brooklyn arts press • new york The Story of How All Animals Are Equal & Other Tales © 2014 Matt Runkle ISBN-13: 978-1-936767-26-7 Cover art by Alicia DeBrincat. Cover design by Joe Pan. Interior design by Matt Runkle. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means existing or to be developed in the future without written consent by the publisher. ‘The Story of How All Animals are Equal’ first appeared in Grist. ‘Warmth’ was originally featured in The Collagist. ‘Spiel’ appeared in Wigleaf, ‘Columbus Was Named for the Dove’ in Monkeybicycle, and ‘Pluck’ in Beecher’s. ‘Pride Goeth Before’ was first published in Mixed Fruit, ‘Gridlock’ in Metazen, ‘Socialites’ in matchbook, and ‘The Hare’ on BOMB. Published in the United States of America by: Brooklyn Arts Press 154 N 9th St #1 Brooklyn, NY 11249 WWW.BROOKLYNARTSPRESS.COM
[email protected] Distributed to the trade by Small Press Distribution (SPD) www.spdbooks.org Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Runkle, Matt. [Short stories. Selection] The story of how all animals are equal & other tales / Matt Runkle. -- First edition. pages cm ISBN 978-1-936767-26-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) I. Title. PS3618.U5665A6 2014 813’.6--dc23 2014019660 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FIRST EDITION for Danny CONTENTS spiel 11 the taco group 13 gridlock 17 the banshees 23 pride goeth before 27 the hare 35 the story of how all animals are equal 37 toy story 51 little tiles of wealth 53 i am so alone 61 a fable in service of hastening the end of all borders 63 the onion’s tale 69 warmth 71 pluck 81 romantic comedy 83 laramie and rudyard 101 heir 103 the stoic trucker with a heart of gold 105 socialites 109 face 111 columbus was named for the dove 133 veterans day 137 Spiel Where you are right now is in a gift shop.