Over at the Litblog Co-op, they’re discussing Alan DeNiro’s collection of short stories Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead. Later on in the week they’ll interview Alan, but for now there is some discussion about the wide range of literary journals where his work has appeared (from One Story to Electric Velocipede), as well as a strange selection from his poetry chapbook The Black Hare. When I talked to Carolyn at Pinky’s Paperhaus (who nominated the book) about this collection, she said that her professor and fellow students hated the book. Which is terrible, because the stories are so brave and adventurous. The stories are so risk-taking that you would never want to workshop them. A workshop would probably harvest hundreds of well-meaning bits of advice that dull the edges and sand off the idiosyncrasies. Personally, I like the stories just as weird as they are. Just to put the stories in the context of a genre, they would fit with the short stories of Aimee Bender or Kelly Link, but that’s only a ballpark analogy – Alan’s actual voice and subject matter are completely different.
Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead
Every writer NEEDS this book.
It’s a guide to writing the pivotal moments of your novel.
Whether writing your book or revising it, this will be the most helpful book you’ll ever buy.
Every writer NEEDS this book.
It’s a guide to writing the pivotal moments of your novel.
Whether writing your book or revising it, this will be the most helpful book you’ll ever buy.
2 comments
Affect aided craziness for me. Voicing wildness flatly I guess.
I am going to have to get a copy of this book.