The Little Pieces of Being Alive: Review of TJ Fuller’s Some Stupid Glow

Amy Borsuk Under Review:Some Stupid Glow. TJ Fuller. Featherproof, April 2026. This short story collection fucked me up. TJ Fuller’s short story collection Some Stupid Glow is positioned by the publisher as darkly funny, a collection of surreal stories about people failing to connect, struggling with keeping afloat in our increasingly bizarre world. All 22 short stories are set in the Pacific Northwest, with deeply American cultural contexts: megachurches as sources of addiction and salvation; narratives of pursuing an American Dream, success and identity being defined by your job; narratives of breaking free from oppressive jobs; narratives of wish fulfilment and disillusionment. The collection is about choking, drowning ourselves in the expectations of others, burying ourselves to avoid conflict, the terror of an irreversible decision you later regret. There’s no doubt to me that these stories are poignant, packing a strong cerebral punch in tightly crafted pieces, but I did often…