Dear Sir or Madam (Electric Literature's Recommended Reading)

4/5 ( ratings)

"In honor of Adam Peterson’s 'Dear Sir or Madam,' I took a trip to a place I hardly ever visit anymore; a place where wishful thinking perishes and where no one has ever gotten the benefit of the doubt," writes Halimah Marcus, Co-Editor of Electric Literature, in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "This place, of course, is my spam folder.
"Emails addressed Attn: My Dear or Dear Beneficiary are never opened, let alone taken seriously. But the rules are different in Ellyss, a small town 'just big enough to have two of everything, one good, one bad,' and the stomping ground of this fine story. Here, an email addressed 'Dear Sir or Madam' and signed 'The Improperly Deposed King of Nigeria' may actually be worth the rewards it promises.
"In a recent study, researcher Cormac Herley asked, 'Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They Are From Nigeria?' His answer: such an overt scam quickly separates the wits from the half-wits, leaving behind only the ripest marks. Among the latter, sorry group is Troy Wasinger’s father, known only as Dad, which is 'all anyone calls him, even those of us who would rather not' Dad is a scammer’s dream, the kind to believe gullible is tattooed on his own ass. First, he narrowly avoids serving up his kidneys to meth heads, and then he sends his Social Security and account numbers to the self-identified king of Nigeria. For such a heedless man, the outlook cannot be bright."

About the Author:
Adam Peterson is the co-editor of The Cupboard, and the author of The Flasher, My Untimely Death, and the co-author of [SPOILER ALERT] with Laura Eve Engel. His short fiction can be found in The Kenyon Review, The Normal School, The Southern Review, and elsewhere.

About the Publisher:
Electric Literature is an independent publisher working to ensure that literature remains a vibrant presence in popular culture. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction, accompanied by a Single Sentence Animation. Single Sentence Animations are creative collaborations: the author chooses a favorite sentence and we commission an artist to interpret it. Stay connected with us through our eNewsletter , Facebook, and Twitter, and find previous Electric Literature picks in the Recommended Reading archives.