Happy Hanukkah from the Fantastical Andrew Fox

It's a fairly-well known fact that some of Tachyon's staff, as well as some of our authors and editors, are Jewish. I leave you to guess which ones, though I'll give you a freebie, our fearless leader Jacob Weisman. Meanwhile, Andrew Fox is giving you an excellent Hanukkah gift, an excerpt from The Good Humor Man. About latkes! Here's where it begins:

***

Shit. I’m late for Cindy's dinner party in La Jolla. Apart from my father, she's the only family I have left. Worse, I forgot to get out to the store to buy a gift. I search the kitchen for something to bring. The best I can find is a bottle of California table wine. I wrap it in tin foil and hope Cindy won't notice that the top fifth of the bottle is empty.

Buddy answers the door. I've never much cared for him. According to Cindy, he’s been an emotionally removed husband and father, burying himself in his engineering business. It's probably the resemblance to my own father that irks me. But he's certainly provided my cousin and their son with a comfortable home.

"Hello, Lou. Cindy was just wondering whether you'd make it."

"Hi, Buddy. How are you?" We awkwardly shake hands. I catch him looking curiously at my black eye. "You haven't fed the last crumbs of the latkes to the dogs yet?"

"Not yet. Cindy’s just taking them out of the oil now."

"The latkes or the dogs?"

No smile. "The latkes."

***

Read more here. And enjoy some non-government-banned latkes for us!