Revisiting Childhoods

I'm realizing that it's been a year since we Ellen Klages's fine story collection, Portable Childhoods. I'm happy to report that Ellen is still enjoying her much-deserved share of the limelight and was recently featured in an interview on The Fix. I love the list Ellen made of her influences (in no particular order): Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Superman comics, Chas Addams cartoons, The Twilight Zone, John D. MacDonald, Kurt Vonnegut, Modesty Blaise, Kelly Link, Roald Dahl, and J. D. Salinger. I believe you can find all of these in Portable Childhoods, perhaps not at the forefront of the stories, but lurking behind corners and sticking out their tongues like mischievous children.