‘A Wishing So Strong That There Are Moments She Nearly Believes It’
The writer Morgan Thomas on desire and risk
Editor’s Note: Read Morgan Thomas’s new short story, “Bump.”
“Bump” is a new short story by Morgan Thomas. To mark the story’s publication in The Atlantic, Thomas and Amy Weiss-Meyer, a deputy managing editor at the magazine, discussed the story over email. Their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
“Bump” begins with a confrontation of sorts, addressed “to those who accuse me of immoderate desire.” The line immediately raises a tantalizing question: we be accusing this narrator of immoderate desire? And if so, desire for what? Even before readers know Louie’s name or her predicament, we see her in relation to the perceptions of others, who may or may not be judging her. What’s
