Liked: It was a simple story, but there was an elegance to the simplicity. You paint a nice picture of Carey's personality with few brush strokes, like that Picasso where he draws a face with a few strokes.

Disliked: The “more bum-like because they were black” bothered me a bit, but I'm not sure why.

Liked: It was a simple story, but there was an elegance to the simplicity. You paint a nice picture of Carey's personality with few brush strokes, like that Picasso where he draws a face with a few strokes.

Disliked: The “more bum-like because they were black” bothered me a bit, but I'm not sure why.

I really love the CGK series, and I think they would actually make a great novel. I love these not-so-super-powers, I think it's a funny and original concept, and I really like the way many of them translate into lessons about life. It could be like the SFH Aesop's Fables.

Liked: I really liked the section that explains how he got his power “People wanted to know…”

Disliked: I guess I felt like he was being a bit uncreative with his powers, like he could punch people he didn't like in the face and then undo it, or run into girls' showers for 15 seconds. And I'm not sure I understand why it wouldn't work in quiz shows, I didn't get the “They ask a different question” part. Presumably they would tell him the right answer and then he could reverse time and answer it correctly, no?

Liked: There were some very nice vignettes painted in this one. I especially liked the description of the girl's apartment. I also liked the way the threads were interwoven.

Disliked: There was one part in the dialog that bothered me. The “You don't have to lie” / “I'm not” / “I know” didn't make sense to me. Like if she knew he wasn't lying, why would she say that? Also, an abject lack of bagel-eating in this one.

Liked: The first paragraph is lovely. I also really like the theme. And the last paragraph put a big smile on my face.

Disliked: For the most part it didn't – to me, at least – have the same wonderful flow I've been seeing in a lot of your work in the past weeks, e.g. The Chinese Hate Us or Bridge.

Liked: I liked the general theme of someone outgrowing their peers, and I thought it was super cool that this was achieved through a Treatment.

Disliked: One minor nit, I found that calling him Jeremy sometimes and Christian others was a bit confusing, there was one place where I was like “who is Christian?”

Liked: I think you've nicely captured courtroom exchanges.

Disliked: I got lost in the last page of dialog, not sure I got it.

Liked: I loved the theme of the story, which I took to be that of learning to be happy with what you have instead of risking what you have to try to get more. I loved the cadence of the story, and I found it to remind me (but not in any derivative way, more like you should write fucking movies) of the Stranger Than Fiction voiceovers. (Love the phrase “iced in yellow” as well.)

Disliked: Once again, I can't really find anything to dislike about this story. Nicely done.