The pangs of transformation had not done tearing him before Henry Jekyll with streaming tears of gratitude and remorse, had fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped hands to God.
–From Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
One of my favorite prose special effects: By sheer magic of word order—the spectral “him” pointing now at Hyde, now at Jekyll—the “before” that freezes time as we’re swept from Hell to Heaven—Stevenson creates an illusion more vivid than vision.
Ari Juels is the author of the computer security thriller Tetraktys.
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John Madera is the author of Nervosities (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024). His other fiction is published in Conjunctions, Salt Hill, The &Now Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing, and many other journals. His nonfiction is published in American Book Review, Bookforum, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Rain Taxi: Review of Books, The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, and many other venues. Recipient of an M.F.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University, New York State Council on the Arts awardee John Madera lives in New York City, Rhizomatic and manages and edits Big Other.
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