In the title story of Phantom Advances, Mary Lynn Reed’s debut short story collection, the teenage narrator looks at her mother through the viewfinder of a manual camera as her mother drives. They’ve just gone to the narrator’s grandparents to ask for help, because her mother, a habitual liar, has lost another job; they’re returning home with money. But though the narrator’s finger clicks the shutter and the machine tries to advance the film, the camera isn’t loaded — there will be no record of this moment. Read More