Discuss “Natural History”, by Clare Sestanovich

[We meet every Sunday when there's a new New Yorker, and we will meet on July 13, because the July 7 & 14 issue is the annual Fiction issue]

Greetings, Fictioneers!

On Sunday, July 20, 2025 at 4 pm CDT/5 pm EDT, on Zoom, we will discuss the second New Yorker Fiction story from the issue dated July 21, 2025: “Natural History”, by Clare Sestanovich. Sestanovich is the author of a number of New Yorker pieces (the link from her name above leads you to her New Yorker contributor page), including “Different People” from January 2023 (its opening line is still one of my favorites: “When Gilly was young, she lied to her diary.”).

1. Read “Natural History” at this link. Try a private or incognito window if blocked by the New Yorker's paywall or through the Libby app via your local public library “card”.
2. Want to listen to it? Use the “Listen to this story” on page audio app on the story page (36:48 at 1x speed). The author also reads the story at this link (38:39 with an ad and an intro).
3. The author interview, “Clare Sestanovich on Balancing Hope and Despair” is at this link.

Clare Sestanovich is an American writer. She was selected as one of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 honorees by Anthony Doerr, for her 2022 short story collection Objects of Desire. Her debut novel, Ask Me Again, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2024.

In the fall of 2024, Sestanovich was an adjunct assistant professor of creative writing at Columbia University School of the Arts.

- from Wikipedia's Clare Sestanovich page, links excised