cover image Waiting for Tomorrow

Waiting for Tomorrow

Claire Stevens. Summer Snow Publications, $0 (111pp) ISBN 978-0-9647478-3-8

From the soap opera-worthy title to the tear-jerking last line (``I sorrow for what will never be'') this debut epistolary E-mail novel seems designed to convince readers that literature is indeed dead in the computer age. First is a letter from Jenny's mother, apologizing for having discovered and read her daughter's E-mail correspondence in her absence. What follows are those messages themselves: embarrassingly hollow exchanges between two hometown honeys who now find themselves college freshmen at different schools. Jenny is effusive; Jonathon is more reticent, apparently because Jenny refused to put out before they parted company. There are probably few college grads who wouldn't cringe to see their freshman diaries made public, and tidbits like this recall why-``I joined Delta Kappa. Bid night was incredible'' or ``hazing sucks, but the house is cool. wish i could tell you what happens, but i can't.'' The star-crossed lovers spar over a teaching assistant who first is attracted to Jenny, then begins dating her roommate. Eventually the dull duo breaks up, but this non-tragedy does nothing to improve the quality of their writing-``how dare you set yourself up on a pedestal like some shattered roman goddess. what kind of love did you offer?'' Jonathon demands self-righteously. One sign of the utter vapidity of this wisp of a novel: when Jenny discovers that she is pregnant after one night with Jonathon, she wonders whether her sorority will still allow her to pledge. (Dec.)