Email Author Barry Graham

1998 Stories by Barry Graham

• Grave Matter

  published November 12, 1998

  There used to be a problem with punk rockers not respecting their elders. But for one of the finest punker outfits in the state, it's no... More >>

• Insatiable

  published November 5, 1998

  This week, let's talk about adultery. About illicit blowjobs. And about perjury. Better yet, let's talk about a guy who does all of those... More >>

• Near-Death Experience

  published October 29, 1998

  Midnight. A blues song plays, scratching the air with the romance of desolation. A few people are still here. My feet rest on the table. I'm... More >>

• Ordinary People

  published October 22, 1998

  They're not in the motel room anymore. When I knock on the door no one answers, and later I find out they're both gone. I already knew she... More >>

• Raw Shark

  published October 1, 1998

  "I'm here every day," the guy says. "Well, every day except Sunday. Sunday is for family and God." The guy is Mexican, handsome, in his... More >>

• True Pulp

  published September 24, 1998

  A good friend of mine, Mickey Spillane Jr., sent me a pitch for a novel, perhaps a screenplay. I told him it was too improbable, that stuff... More >>

• Polyamorous Pollyanna

  published September 17, 1998

  It's a little bit disappointing. I was half-expecting and half-hoping to find a place jammed with strobe-lighted rooms full of writhing, entangled... More >>

• Punk Monk

  published September 10, 1998

  When you talk to Gavan Wieser, the warmth of his personality and his thoughtful manner make it unsurprising that he used to be a Franciscan... More >>

• Death Camp

  published September 3, 1998

  Shaping tomorrow through the youth of today! --Arizona Boys Ranch motto Lord help me, I need help, I need help . . . --Nicholaus... More >>

• Modern Maturity

  published August 27, 1998

  For more than six months now, international news has been dominated by a story about a blowjob. While bombs have exploded, shots have been... More >>

• Auto Lock-up

  published August 20, 1998

  Senator John Kaites really ought to run for sheriff. The Deputy Dawg of Arizona politics has successfully sponsored a piece of legislation... More >>

• Human Target

  published August 13, 1998

  The young man lies dead at the end of the room. I can't stop looking at him. He's lying in an open casket in front of the altar in the... More >>

• Grand Motel

  published August 6, 1998

  When she opens the door, her life is written on her face. The bruises around her eyes. The off-white, puffy skin. The frightened look, which she... More >>

• Gallant Effort

  published July 30, 1998

  We arrange to meet in a restaurant. I ask how I will recognize her. "Do you know who Suzanne Somers is?" she asks me. I say I do. "Well, I... More >>

• Pistol Whipped

  published July 23, 1998

  I come from Scotland, a country where no one has guns. The cops don't have them. Most criminals don't have them. And the cops don't want them. If... More >>

• High Goon

  published July 16, 1998

  According to the law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until he's proved guilty in court. But, in Maricopa County, the... More >>

• Martial Bliss

  published July 9, 1998

  It's late on a Saturday morning at Phoenix Civic Plaza. Downtown is quiet and hot, and there's no sense of violence in the air. Until I go... More >>

• Cops Kid Around

  published July 2, 1998

  The press packet makes it sound exciting. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, it says. That's the name of the Washington, D.C.-based organization that's... More >>

• Boy Meets Grill

  published June 25, 1998

  In 1953, eating out was simpler than it is today. Remember the icy sweetness of a tall Root Beer Float or a super thick chocolate shake on a lazy... More >>

• Oscar Performance

  published June 18, 1998

  Where do racist white gangs allow black people to be members? In Arizona, according to a news release by the National Association for the... More >>

• I of the Needle

  published June 11, 1998

  Perhaps this is what's meant by "cultural diversity." There are guys with tattoos, guys with guns, guys dressed as Klingons. There are women, too,... More >>

• Age of AIDS

  published June 4, 1998

  The woman I'm talking to is white, middle-class, in her early 30s. She's telling me about a recent vacation she took, a camping trip. During it,... More >>

• The Cowering Inferno

  published May 28, 1998

  Students of human suffering will enjoy this. If you've explored the psychological chasms of Edgar Allan Poe and journeyed to the end of the night... More >>

• Overdressed

  published May 21, 1998

  It was an ordinary day in Scottsdale, business as usual. Nothing unusual happened. Real estate appreciated. The sun shone. A black guy was viewed... More >>

• No Place Like Home?

  published May 14, 1998

  On November 12 last year, it became official: Arizona is not safe for children. In a report released that day by the state auditor general,... More >>