Mosquito: Roy Chen's mini-metamorphosis

Host Marcela Sulak reads the short story "Mosquito" by Roy Chen. Set in Tel Aviv on the city's "White Night," it follows an author and his girlfriend as they make their way to an evening of literary readings at a local café-bookstore:

"Tel Aviv grinned like a little girl with tooth decay while she puffed on a pipe held in the corner of her mouth. Cars honked, ice cream dribbled, dogs peed on sycamore trees. City flags flew atop balconies. Fireworks were launched into the sky from the beach, lighting up all the air-conditioners, antennas, and solar water heaters that clung to the buildings like leeches."

Chen's "author," who is supposed to be reading his work at the event, has been on edge from the start. Inside the claustrophobic café he must endure bad poetry and even worse conversation... until he loses his patience.

Text:
"Mosquito" by Roy Chen, translated by Jessica Cohen in World Literature Today, Vol.89, No.3/4. May-August 2015.

Music:
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - For All We Know; Southern Scene; King For A Day