Mysterion, August 2023

“The Carelessness of Endless Summers” by Ann McCurdy

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

The narrator of “The Carelessness of Endless Summers” by Ann McCurdy is an immortal being of Faery who feeds on human souls. As punishment for devouring the soul of the wrong person, the narrator is forced to live as a mortal for one year. Taken in as a foundling by a widow, the narrator learns what it feels like to face death and makes a sacrifice for the woman.

The author does a good job of conveying the narrator’s misunderstanding of and contempt for humans, as well as the being’s change of attitude. The story is a thoughtful meditation on mortality. The narrator speaks in a jumpy, grammatically incorrect manner in the early part of the text. Perhaps this is meant to portray the character maturing during the time spent as a mortal, but readers are likely to find it distracting.

Victoria Silverwolf ate a lot of baba ganoush today.