Thaddeus Howze

@ebonstorm.bsky.social

5427 Followers 7456 Following

Writer | Analyst | Narrative Designer | Substack: Cognitive Dissident The Black Fantastic: 20 Afrofuturist Stories — Library of America (2025) Biography – https://thowze.carrd.co GoFundMe – https://gofund.me/3487f59b0

RETURN TO NORMAL Life, such as it was, returned slowly to the former war zone. So few buildings remained the people huddled, as hungry for companionship as food; they settled for the whispered communion as solace. Distant munitions caused the wan yellow lights to flicker with each explosion, the fear of the lightless dark renewed. Dawn creaked in with a cane. They drank the feeble light of the shrouded sun as they would manna. Respite, not rescue.
Hayward's Reach — a collection of the early speculative work of Thaddeus Howze, including the piece inducted into the Library of America, “Bludgeon” as part of the Black Fantastic! https://www.amazon.com/Haywards-Reach-Thaddeus-Howze/dp/0971994374
Welcome to The Cyclospora Cookbook: A Satirical Guide to Surviving the Salad Years. First, the good news. You probably aren't going to die. Now the bad news. There will come a moment when you question every life decision that brought you to a bag of pre-washed spinach. Your abdomen will inflate to impressive proportions. You will become intimately familiar with every bathroom within sprinting distance. Time itself will lose all meaning except for the comforting regularity of your next gastrointestinal emergency. Approximately every two hours. Like clockwork. This cookbook was inspired by a simple observation. Humanity once survived plague, cholera, and questionable medieval sanitation with one remarkably effective culinary innovation: We boiled everything. Nobody knew exactly what was making them sick, but they understood that fire had a persuasive argument. Vegetables? Boil them. Water? Boil it. Meat? Definitely boil it. If it couldn't survive a pot of rolling water, perhaps it wasn't meant to survive inside you either. It is with that same pioneering spirit that we present the recipes in these pages. They are hearty. They are wholesome. They are, above all else, thoroughly cooked. Kale becomes soup. Turnips become soup. Beans become soup. If necessary, berries become soup. We make no apologies. Could modern food safety make all of this unnecessary? Perhaps. On the other hand, every few months America reminds us that somewhere, somehow, someone has once again discovered an innovative new method of contaminating our food supply. So until further notice, we choose optimism, seasoning, and a rolling boil. Besides, if recent years have taught us anything, it's that Americans are already accustomed to somebody shitting the bed every couple of hours. We merely recommend that, this time, it not be you.
Preface Welcome to The Cyclospora Cookbook: A Satirical Guide to Surviving the Salad Years. First, the good news. You probably aren't going to die. Now the bad news. There will come a moment when you question every life decision that brought you to a bag of pre-washed spinach. Your abdomen will inflate to impressive proportions. You will become intimately familiar with every bathroom within sprinting distance. Time itself will lose all meaning except for the comforting regularity of your next gastrointestinal emergency. Approximately every two hours. Like clockwork. This cookbook was inspired by a simple observation. Humanity once survived plague, cholera, and questionable medieval sanitation with one remarkably effective culinary innovation: We boiled everything. Nobody knew exactly what was making them sick, but they understood that fire had a persuasive argument. Vegetables? Boil them. Water? Boil it. Meat? Definitely boil it. If it couldn't survive a pot of rolling water, perhaps it wasn't meant to survive inside you either. It is with that same pioneering spirit that we present the recipes in these pages. They are hearty. They are wholesome. They are, above all else, thoroughly cooked. Kale becomes soup. Turnips become soup. Beans become soup. If necessary, berries become soup. We make no apologies. Could modern food safety make all of this unnecessary? Perhaps. On the other hand, every few months America reminds us that somewhere, somehow, someone has once again discovered an innovative new method of contaminating our food supply. So until further notice, we choose optimism, seasoning, and a rolling boil. Besides, if recent years have taught us anything, it's that Americans are already accustomed to somebody shitting the bed every couple of hours. We merely recommend that, this time, it not be you.