Review: 'Her hatred of me has cured to 100% perfection'
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2012
"Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back" is a short story about Paul and Mary Marder - and, distantly, their daughter, Rae.Paul was part of THE CREW that helped bring about nuclear devastation to the Earth.  He and his wife, Mary, barely make it into extensive underground shelters and are "safe."  Their daughter is not so lucky.Paul lives with his overwhelming guilt of what he has helped do to the world and their daughter, and Mary never lets him forget it.  She refuses to talk to him and every night deeply tattoos a picture of their daughter on his back.  He looks forward to the nightly cleansing pain.After twenty years some of the survivors, including Paul and Mary, decide to go topside.  And then the story really gets strange.Joe Lansdale is one of my favorite authors and is a master of the short story.  Lansdale considers this little post-apocalyptic gem to be one of his favorites. I can certainly understand why.  Oh, and Freud would have had a great time analyzing Joe after he read THIS story!