Single Sit

Hogan, Edward (2022). Single Sit. In: Royle, Nicholas ed. Best British Short Stories 2022. Cromer, UK: Salt Publishing.

Abstract

'Single Sit' is a fiction short story of 5500 words. It won the Galley Beggar Press Prize, 2021. It was published in the Brixton Review, and performed on stage for WORD Theatre, at the Crazy Coqs, London (Sept 2022, dir: Cedering Fox). It tells the story of Frank McCann, a salesman who goes on a house call in an attempt to sell a conservatory to a single mother, Mrs Cortez. He and Mrs Cortez sleep together, but when he wakes in the early hours he finds that her son, Esteban - who has a sleep condition - has wandered onto the South Downs.

The story is part of a cycle which explores masculinity and work in contemporary Britain. In this case, Frank's career has surfed the almost random opportunities of Thatcherite Britain - his capitalising on the home improvement boom initiated by Thatcher's 'Right to Buy' scheme - before being swallowed up by the recession of the 2000s, leading Frank into divorce and family estrangement.

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