Gretchen McCullough has published numerous essays, travel narratives and short stories about the Middle East. Much of her creative non-fiction in Egypt and Syria is based on her observations of daily life in the region. For example, in her essay "The Third Party is Always Watching" about her experience as a Fulbrighter in Syria, (1997-1999) she reflects on the complicated, but poignant relationship she has with her landlord, Samuel in a country ruled by an authoritarian regime. Later in 2003, living in Egypt, in a series of letters published by The Barcelona Review, she describes the angry political atmosphere on the Cairo street before the beginning of the Iraq War. However, after six years of living in Cairo, her interest in literary journalism and realistic fiction, began to shift to a different kind of storytelling-stories told in the fabulous tradition. Her collection of short stories, set in Cairo, were inspired by the bits of rumor, gossip and hyperbole she heard from her neighbors and the gatekeeper in the building where she lived. The short stories provide humorous and unusual insights into cultural misunderstandings and expatriate life in Cairo. In "The Empty Flat Upstairs," a Japanese woman, Keiko, is driven crazy by her insistence on knowing the literal truth about the noises she hears upstairs. In contrast, an Egyptian neighbor, Mona, becomes obsessed with watching the sexual escapades of her American gay neighbor in an adjacent building in "The Ugly Duck." In the latest published short story, "Fatma's New Teeth," a washed-up American journalist, Joy, tries to organize a set of new teeth for her maid, Fatma with a group of expatriates while she is suffering from dental problems herself. Read more...