American Joe is a funny and frightening story about the effect one life en-route to battle has had on the lives around him. Last November, Liza's 19-year-old brother enlisted in the US Army. Raynal's piece traces the back-and-forth connection and rejection between brother and sister, soldier and pacifist, warrior and writer.

A Bay Area native, Raynal began performing solo as a senior at Brown University. After graduating, she lived in the West Indies for a year on a research fellowship. After she returned home, she became a middle school teacher and was working on stories about carnival and Creole when her brother joined the Army. A week later, American Joe was conceived at The Marsh with David Ford.