My new story is out in the Dublin Review Winter 2012-13 issue.

Contempt
Ruben has lost his accent, stripped away his background, and lives each day at a time. He works shoulder to shoulder with immigrants from all over the world. His fellow labourers assume he is a Russian.
He seems to get on well enough with people. But there is surely something unsound about this man without a past and with no plans or ambitions. When a young Latvian woman comes to rely on him, we fear for her safety. As we see things more from Ruben’s unique and ruthless perspective, we realise that differences of race or culture are miniscule compared to the differences between individuals. Ruben is out there on the fringes of what it means to be human, unguided by taboos or beliefs or habit.

Kevin Barry has an essay in this issue – a personal history of his encounters with the internet.