If you’re looking for a lively, quick, and quirky read suffused with a good dose of modern magical realism, Aaron Burch‘s latest novel, Tacoma, might be the book for you.
In Tacoma, Burch mixes magical elements into this autofictional/speculative account of a modern-day quest for … something. I think Burch leaves that to the reader to decide, so I’ll refrain from making any definitive pronouncements here.
Read two excerpts from Tacoma.
On the surface, the story is about a couple who decide to “take a break from life” one summer and housesit in a luxurious mansion in Aaron’s hometown of Tacoma, Washington. The protagonist (whose name is Aaron) describes the place as “Beautiful mid-century modern, recently remodeled, state-of-the-art everything. A Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous episode devoted to a Frank Lloyd Wright house built in a waking life dream set in 21st century Pacific Northwest.”
Aaron plans to spend that summer writing the Great American Novel. He has his Google Docs and an adjustable height desk, so he’s all set. His partner, Amber, works remotely, occasionally watching YouTube videos on her laptop instead of crunching numbers .
Below the surface, the story unfolds into a tale of exploration and discovery. It begins with Aaron and Amber exploring the house, the neighborhood, and the city. Aaron spends a lot of time running along the shoreline and texting his two close friends, Kevin and D.T., then writing short stories derived from the text exchanges. But he doesn’t spend much time on his novel. He’s too distracted by other projects and adventures. Soon, he’s more focused on creating a map of the city and adding to it as he discovers new areas and features.
In his explorations, he discovers portals to other places and other times, and the mundane events of the everyday world become less so. One of his texting buddies shows up on an Orca one day. He enters a tiny door into his past. He discovers pirates guarding a path into the woods–the path to a “wormhole.” Aaron and his buddies spend a lot of time talking about the nature of reality. So do Aaron and Amber. On a visit to a zoo, as they look at jellyfish in an aquarium, Amber insisted the jellyfish weren’t real.
They aren’t real, they seem made up, this is make believe, I don’t think they’re real, they can’t be real, she said. Over and over and over and over.
This questioning of reality, and Aaron’s persistent commitment to uncertainty–“I’ve tried not being sure of anything, so I’d never be wrong, but somehow that only made me wrong more often. That’s how life seems to go.”–grows more prevalent in the book as you read further.
At times the book gave me Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland vibes. At other times, I felt like I was reading something between a fever dream and an acid trip, and the radio in my head would play the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields” (“nothing is real”) on repeat. Then there were times I felt like I was watching a Bizarro World version of Seinfeld, but with cellphones.
At the end of my journey through this enjoyable book, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, other than to decide it was a delightful read–for the whacky magical stories within the story and the clever wordplay, if for no other reason.
In my January 2025 Friday Five interview with Aaron, he said his interest in writing and editing began in part with “a desire to entertain myself.” Reading Tacoma, it became clear he’s still having fun and still probably entertaining himself, while entertaining the rest of us in the process.
Tacoma is Aaron’s sixth book. A veteran of the online literary world, he founded Hobart in 2001 and later co-founded HAD, a lit mag for microfiction and poetry. About three years ago, he launched Short Story, Long.
Andy writes! 
Thank you for this reading recommendation!