The Napkin Project (Love Stories Edition)
The oldest stories in the world are love stories. Boy meets girl; girl shares her campfire; they live happily ever after, two cavepeople against the cruel world. In the millennia since, the form has only improved and multiplied—now our bookshelves are packed with tales of joy and heartbreak, love and loss, breaking up and making up.
So when we asked five extraordinary writers to submit works of short fiction contained on cocktail napkins, we gave them this prompt: “Write a love story.” The results remind us why love stories are the backbone of modern fiction. The proof is spelled out in the writers’ own handwriting.
In one story, a coffee shop meet-cute links two shy young people; in another, time-traveling lovers enjoy not one but several meet-cutes across the ancient world, from Babylon to Rome to Constantinople. Of course, love isn’t all sunshine and roses; elsewhere in this collection, a blind date goes comically sideways and a lovelorn man regrets the limits of what he can give. Finally, one work of fiction celebrates a woman’s greatest love affair: one with her own pleasure.
So go ahead—join us at the bar. Enjoy these tales of love, longing, and woe, and maybe scribble down your own. After all, everyone has a love story to tell. —Adrienne Westenfeld, Books and Fiction Editor
Andrew Sean Greer
Jasmine Guillory
Gabino Iglesias
Curtis Sittenfeld
Jess Walter
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