Welcome to another installment of If My Book, the Monkeybicycle feature in which authors compare their recently released books to weird things. This week Andy Mozina writes about Tandem, his new novel out from Tortoise Books.
If Tandem were a mixed drink, it would be a tequila sunset: colorful, the best time of day, faux healthy (the orange juice), goes down easy, but will eventually bend your head.
If Tandem were a snack chip, it would be Chili Cheese Fritos: diabolically constructed to induce your continuous consumption until the guilt is overwhelming.
If Tandem were a road trip, it would be the one where you smoke too much pot and have a claustrophobic freakout in the rear of a station wagon lying on your back amidst the luggage with the ceiling squeezing your mind—but it makes a good story, in retrospect.
If Tandem were a concrete spacer, it would be one of those wide and rubbery ones that provide roads and sidewalks extra protection against buckling in extreme heat.
If Tandem were an internal organ, it would be a liver: launder your toxins here!
If Tandem were an over-the-counter cold and flu remedy, it would be Nyquil, because Nyquil is the best!
Andy Mozina is the author of four books of fiction, including Tandem. His stories have appeared in Tin House, McSweeney’s, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. His first collection, The Women Were Leaving the Men, won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award. His fiction has received special citations in Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize, and New Stories from the Midwest. He’s a professor of English at Kalamazoo College. Follow him on X at @andymozina. www.andymozina.com
