“Interpreters of Men Get it On” by Fiona Maazel
Recommended by The Common
Issue No.8
I HAD A CAREER, I TANKED IT GOOD. Middle of Nowhere, Australia, which was, quite possibly, the most desolate place on earth. Eight hours a day listening to the North Koreans. Most tracking stations are remote for the obvious reasons of privacy and uncluttered air space, but what really matters is being within the footprint of a satellite’s broadcast range. Hence: Nowhere, Australia, under Intelsat 2 stationed over the Pacific Ocean and handling the equivalent of about a million pages of text per second. It was grueling work and peculiar for its mix of boredom and anxiety, both of which verged on the unbearable. Rumors about the global listening system called Echelon abound, so let’s just dispense with the mystery and say: Yes, it exists. The UK countries listen in on what Americans are doing and then pass on the information, which loopholes that nasty proscription against spying on our own.
Read more at electricliterature.com.
Author’s Bio
Fiona Maazel is the author of the novels Last Last Chance and, forthcoming, Woke Up Lonely. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Guest Editor
The Common is a new print and online literary magazine publishing literature and images with a strong sense of place. Based at Amherst College, the magazine takes its name from the role of the town common–a public gathering place for the display and exchange of ideas–and from its ambition to find the extraordinary in the every day. Edited by Jennifer Acker, The Common has published three print issues and maintains an active website with original web-only content. Subscribe to The Common here.
“Interpreters of Men Get It On” originally appeared in The Common and is reprinted by permission of Fiona Maazel. All rights reserved by the author.
