Our Meat

"If the apocalypse is the final destruction, then what can come after it?" asks Halimah Marcus in her introduction to "Our Meat" by Joe Kowalski. "Nothing should follow the end, and yet so much fiction and film would tell you otherwise. Whether it’s Noah and his ark or McCarthy’s unnamed father and son, the plight of lonely survivors has become a genre unto itself. Understandably so, because when survival is at stake, when our own interests are so nakedly pitted against the interests of others, our humanity (or lack of) is exposed—and can be explored. Joe Kowalski’s “Our Meat” is set in this oxymoronic post-apocalyptic landscape, where 'everyone is a little crazy since The Thing That Happened.' The Thing That that’s all you’re going to get by way of back-story. An event so incompressible it cannot be described in further terms; it is a hinge in time marked only by the words before and since." About the Joe Kowalski studied film at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He works as a graphic designer and lives in Brooklyn. About the Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, publishes one story a week for free. In addition to publishing original fiction, Recommended Reading invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to personally recommended the fiction that has inspired them. Please visit recommended reading.tumblr.com to browse the archives and stay in touch via email, Facebook, and Twitter.