Sunday Short: This is Not an Exit by Elmo Keep

"I look at the bookshelves and the house feels suddenly too small. I am never going to read most of my father’s books, which I’ve carried with me from house to house for seven years. I list the reasons why I’m going to get rid of them (a house is not a mausoleum; there isn’t enough space; we could move to New York) and start packing them in boxes I plan to take around the corner to the bookshop and donate to the second-hand section. They are all that he left behind—no letters, no diaries, no photos, not a watch, nothing save for a leather wallet my younger brother uses now."

This is Not an Exit by Elmo Keep is memoir, not fiction, but it's such a well-written and self-contained piece about American Psycho and about a child's relationship with her father that I thought I'd include it anyway. Family relationships are something that appeals to me a lot in writing, something I can quickly engage with, and This is Not an Exit is a beautiful exploration of that, utilising tangible objects to ultimately try to explain something that is entirely untouchable. It's pretty special. You can read This is Not an Exit over on the Meanjin website.