Richard Seltzer
Bio
Richard now writes fulltime. He used to publish public domain ebooks and worked for Digital Equipment as "Internet Evangelist." He graduated from Yale where he had creative writing courses with Robert Penn Warren and Joseph Heller.
Stories (49)
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The Mirror by Richard Seltzer. Top Story - November 2023.
A middle-aged man in a business suit is about to walk out of his apartment. He reaches toward the doorknob, then halts abruptly. There is panic on his face. He tries again and again, but he can’t bring himself to touch the doorknob.
By Richard Seltzer2 years ago in Fiction
The Blind Bard
“I imagine that Polyphemus was a loner until Odysseus blinded his single eye. Then he needed help to survive and wanted companionship to fill the emptiness he felt in his unending darkness. The other Cyclopses had never liked him. Now they stayed away from him even more, thinking that he was mad or had angered the gods or both. They left food and water for him outside his cave, taking turns out of a sense of responsibility. But they never lingered, not wanting to invite conversation.
By Richard Seltzer3 years ago in Fiction
The First Sin
“Eve saw how God loved the Earth and everything in it, including all people. Because He had created them, they were His and always would be, regardless of their beauty or strength or intelligence and regardless of whether they loved Him in return, and regardless of what they did or didn’t do. Eve longed for such unconditional love. And she convinced Adam that he wanted it, too. And together they asked God to give them the ability to create new people.
By Richard Seltzer3 years ago in Fiction
Eve's Jealousy
“Eve was jealous.” “What? She was the only woman on Earth. How could she be jealous?” “Adam and Eve were created as fully grown adults. There were no caretakers around to raise and nurture children. They didn’t age. They wouldn’t die. They spoke the same language without having to learn it, and God spoke that language as well. They had no clothing, no idea of clothes, though they recognized their bodily differences. They preferred spending time with one another rather than with other creatures, and there were no other people. That’s when Eve realized she was the only woman.
By Richard Seltzer3 years ago in Fiction
The Eleventh Commandment
“In the Qumran Caves in the Judaean Desert, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, archaeologists uncovered a fragment of Deuteronomy that referred to an eleventh commandment: ‘Thou shalt honor the Earth and respect her and love her, for she is the mother of all.’ Commentary exhorted believers to sort their trash and dispose of it in ways that would not hurt Nature. And a well-preserved new chapter of Deuteronomy warned of a kind of material yet to come that would be abhorrent to Nature and would not return to the dust from which it came.
By Richard Seltzer3 years ago in Fiction
