Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Muddy Men
    Muddy Men
    Muddy Men
    Ebook74 pages57 minutes

    Muddy Men

    By Sam Knaip

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Mamzer is trapped in an unending routine of a maddening workday, feeling voiceless and shattered. His son-in-law and young wife are dismantling what's left of him when he gets home. He realizes he’s a 30-something decrepit whose legacy will be buried under the weight of his insignificance. That’s the scenery under which Mamzer decides to turn the odds in his favor and leave his mark on the world by doing something... good.

    Muddy Men is the first short-story by Sam Knaip to be translated into English. Written in an offbeat, minimalistic style, this not-so-short-story renovates the dirty realism tradition, whilst keeping faithful to the genre expectations.

    This book is not recommended for readers under 18 years old.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSam Knaip
    Release dateMay 29, 2015
    ISBN9781311325334
    Muddy Men

    Related to Muddy Men

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Birthday Surprise

      Sep 17, 2021

      Birthday Surprise
      5 min read

    • Article

      After “The End”

      Oct 10, 2022

      I walked down the road with a hunched back and a wet cigarette in my mouth—the fire had died a while back. My hands were tucked into the pockets of my jacket, and my hair fell over my face, limiting my sight. But I wasn’t really seeing where I was go

      10 min read

    • Article

      Daughters’ Bodies

      Dec 1, 2019

      WHEN I’M about to go away to college, my grandmother dies and my mother silently puts herself up for adoption. LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO ADOPT ME: Kind, lonely, beautiful woman in her 50s. Dead husband. No children. Cooks and cleans. 4’11 and 90 lbs. Gu

      20 min read

    • Article

      King Of The Castle

      Dec 28, 2023

      King Of The Castle
      5 min read

    • Article

      Siphons

      Feb 6, 2020

      Siphons
      6 min read

    • Article

      You’re The Dirty Rascal

      Apr 6, 2023

      You’re The Dirty Rascal
      5 min read

    • Article

      Touch

      Nov 4, 2021

      Touch
      8 min read

    • Article

      This ISN’T love

      Nov 18, 2021

      This ISN’T love
      5 min read

    • Article

      Here’s What I Don’t Say

      Jun 1, 2019

      Here’s What I Don’t Say
      13 min read

    • Article

      Spilt Milk

      Nov 4, 2019

      Spilt Milk
      10 min read

    • Article

      I Failed My Daughter

      Jul 29, 2022

      I Failed My Daughter
      9 min read

    • Article

      Fearless, fabulous FERN

      Apr 7, 2022

      Fearless, fabulous FERN
      7 min read

    • Article

      An Unspeakable Life

      Jan 10, 2022

      It was a perfect fall afternoon when Muriel found out she was pregnant. Tourists snatched up apple cider by the gallon at farm stands. Leaf peepers stood on the side of the road with their cameras aimed in all directions; wherever you looked, a quint

      12 min read

    • Article

      The Problem with My Dachshund

      Dec 11, 2019

      The Problem with My Dachshund
      10 min read

    • Article

      No sex please!

      Sep 14, 2023

      No sex please!
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Cleaner’s Diary

      Jun 1, 2018

      A Cleaner’s Diary
      10 min read

    • Article

      When Your Dad Gets Locked Up—And Then Deported

      May 11, 2018

      I crossed the border from Mexico with my parents when I was 6 years old. I remember walking for a day and a half and wading through a river. I remember sitting on my dad’s shoulders, feeling his skin peeling and blistering. In Mexico, we had worked

      5 min read

    • Article

      Dirty Little secret

      Apr 25, 2024

      Dirty Little secret
      6 min read

    • Article

      Answer

      Mar 31, 2020

      Answer
      21 min read

    • Article

      Dispatches From the Trenches of Domestic Life

      Mar 2, 2018

      Six years ago my wife gave me a pair of house slippers. My first ever. A domestic present I thought signaled some new phase of my life. I thanked her. Tried them on. Plush fur lined the inside. I stood up to make a show of enjoying them. Then she han

      6 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Hate my Reality’

      Jul 22, 2022

      ‘I Hate my Reality’
      11 min read

    • Article

      Counter Waves

      Oct 23, 2020

      Counter Waves
      8 min read

    • Article

      Out Of Nowhere

      Mar 24, 2022

      Out Of Nowhere
      5 min read

    • Article

      What I’ve Learned

      Oct 1, 2021

      What I’ve Learned
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Ninth Step

      Aug 26, 2020

      The Ninth Step
      6 min read

    • Article

      Hiding In Plain Sight

      Jun 29, 2023

      Hiding In Plain Sight
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Muddy Men

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Muddy Men - Sam Knaip

      MUDDY MEN

      by

      Sam Knaip

      © 2014 – All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

      I

      I

      No one forced you to work here.

      You can always find something better, a friend said, later.

      We can live for a few months without income, my wife said, today.

      I can always find another dad, the kid said, just now.

      I drank, and I couldn’t listen to much as my eyes went red. And so there I was with my red and yellow eyes. I couldn’t understand if it was because of what the kid said, or if what my wife had said had actually come true.

      I stood in front of the mirror. The light flashed a couple times, as it always took a few seconds to go on. After the first flash, the entire bathroom turned gray, which was the right color. After the second flash, the entire bathroom turned yellow, and that was wrong. Then the light went on for real and the bathroom looked like a butcher’s house. I felt cold and the walls felt cold, but I was sweating and my beard was scratchy as if tonight were a hot Sunday afternoon.

      My eyes should be green and white, but now they were red and yellow. I could always find another job.

      I could always find something better.

      We could find a cheaper house.

      The kid could find another dad as he had found me a few years ago.

      But I couldn’t make any sense of what was happening. I could hear footsteps and the kid laughing at cartoons. How could he be laughing like that? Didn’t he know anything? What the hell was he thinking? What kind of idiot am I raising?

      And the neighbor laughed. I couldn’t even take a shit without listening to whatever the hell that faggot was laughing about at any given time. Why was everybody laughing? What was wrong with the world? How could they laugh? My pupils were red and the rest of my eyes should be white, but now they were yellowish and everybody out there was laughing.

      I didn’t felt like shaving. I could always find another boss. The next one couldn’t be as bad as this one.

      The light above the mirror flashed once more. The bathroom was gray again. How come? That never happened. I turned on the shower and the light turned yellow again. It was mocking me. I could hear the electricity talking in the central control box down the hallway. The electricity was fucking talking and it spoke like popcorns do when they blow up. Maybe I could find some other shit to do. I could get another boss, another job.

      I could sob for days after I drank. I wasn’t even a proper drunk. I only cursed because every time I tried to put anything into words I sounded like a weak piece of shit. I couldn’t speak out loud or laugh out loud like the neighbor because I didn’t have a job that allowed me to.

      I had a place to be. I had to be quiet, as quiet as possible, unnoticeable. But I was always angry. I’m still angry. But then again, I’m not angry anymore, yet I still can’t stand the endless heating and cooling cycle that my life had become. My eyes are red and I’m angry, but nobody can see me burning on the outside. Unless they looked at my eyes, but nobody looks at eyes. They couldn’t care less about my eyes because they are too worried about their car insurance and the size of the next bullshit bill their school will send them.

      Hey. Mister. We need you to send 20 bucks because we are going to make a fucking bowl of tropical salad.

      Oh, Mister! Look, it’s a school bill! Please send 30 bucks otherwise your kid won’t grow up because we won’t irrigate him if you don’t do as we say.

      Hey, Mister! We thought your last letter was way too aggressive and we assure you that we are not kidnapping your kid. And paying for his fucking schooling is not a symptom of Stockholm syndrome. Please seek medical care as quickly as you can because you are in worse shape than your kid is.

      The fucking bathroom was still yellow, and now the water was flowing. So there I was, complaining to myself with scorching water dripping from the shower head. Half of the world was drinking their own carbonated piss to cool off and farting under the blankets to keep warm, and there I was not caring about the starving children all over the world.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1