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LeVar Burton Reads

"The Placement Agency" by Tobias Buckell

LeVar Burton Reads

Stitcher

Arts, Performing Arts

4.917K Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2022

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What's the weirdest temp job you can imagine? One outside time and space... This story appears in Tobias Buckell's collection SHOGGOTHS IN TRAFFIC AND OTHER STORIES, published by Fairwood Press. Content advisory: some discussion of murder/death

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Lovar Burton and this is Lovar Burton Reads.

0:09.6

In every episode I hand-pick a different piece of short fiction and I read it to you.

0:16.4

The only thing these stories have in common is that I love them and I hope you will too.

0:26.2

I love, love, love reading Tobias Bucknell's work.

0:32.6

It's funny, it's evocative, it's subversive.

0:36.7

I read a couple of his stories on the podcast before and now I am truly delighted to return

0:42.6

to his aura.

0:44.8

Tobias is a world fantasy award-winning and New York Times best-selling writer who was

0:50.8

born in the Caribbean.

0:52.8

He's got a pile of novels in about a hundred short stories and he currently lives and writes

0:58.3

in Ohio.

1:00.1

You can find today's story in his collection entitled Shugas in Traffic and Other Stories

1:06.4

published by Fairwood Press.

1:09.3

Now the placement agency, today's story follows our main character Riley who's down on their

1:15.2

look.

1:16.2

Riley is trying to make it in a town called Lincoln.

1:20.4

Avoiding shady or criminal enterprises as much as possible when they see a job ad that's

1:27.1

short on the details but does include one very important bit of information.

1:33.7

It pays well.

1:35.4

When we meet Riley though, they're already on their adventure.

1:39.2

Tobias just plunks us right down into the action.

1:43.3

I had a great time reading this story and I truly hope you like it.

...

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