In the fourth story of this collection, “A Guide to San Francisco,” the narrator says, “I have to admit I have never been as moved by the realists or the world-creating fabulists as I am by the pattern-makers.” If you agree with that aesthetic preference, you should read Damion Searls’ “What We Were Doing and […]
Before I get to a micro review of the collection itself, I have to admit that I’m impressed by Naiqian’s bio. Growing up in a rural section of China, he didn’t start writing until 37, as a result of a bet with a friend. He still has his day job as a detective (!) for […]
Here’s John Freeman brilliant description of the role of literary journals: Their primary function, after all, is to undermine this economy of prestige, to promote gross miscegenation, messiness, conflict and disorder; to subvert the market; and to place writers in unexpected places, where they can create their own unlikely community of readers.
Narrative has become the current gold standard for online literary magazines, wading in the fray and dominating the competition in a relatively short time. Well, watch out. Electric Literature just launched, and it looks like a doozy. True to the name, EL is distributing electronically, through a host of formats: e-book, Kindle, and iPhone, plus […]
At the Guardian, they review the new anthology “Ox-Tales,” structured around the four elements, and “Park Stories,” a set of eight specially commissioned short stories all corresponding to a major British park. Explaining the rationale behind the parks, editor Rowan Routh said: “There’s a kinship between parks and short fiction – both are confined things.” […]
I’ve been amused by the fake twitter accounts (twitterjackings) that I’ve come across recently. Of course there are famous rip-offs. No, that’s not really Steve Jobs, sorry. And Condoleezza Rice isn’t tweeting, “LOL! G.W. likes fruitcake.” But the ones I’ve been encountering have been in the literary realm. Billy Collins started following me, and offering […]
John Freeman’s been popping up with some regularity, mostly in reference to being named Granta’s new editor after Alex Clark resigned. Since the average appointment of Granta’s editors seems to be something in the range of about 2 days (okay, bit of hyperbole, there — or if you’re into tropes, actually a litote — they […]
Louis Menand’s piece in the summer fiction issue of The New Yorker, “Show or Tell,” has been stirring up the old MFA debates around the internets. Obstensibly, it’s a review of Mark McGurl’s new book, “The Program Era,” which seems to be arguing that MFA programs impacted fiction during the last fifty years (big surprise!) […]
“House” might be the most boring premise ever for a nonfiction book. It’s a story about three circles of people — the homeowners, the architect, and the builders — as a house gets built. But it’s absolutely enthralling. Between “House” and “The Soul of a New Machine,” Kidder had me hooked a good while back, […]
The June issue of Open Letters Monthly is out — A Fiction Issue, no less — and it’s a doozy. Not only a ton of reviews, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck, reviewed by John Madera, but the genuine article of fiction itself. This issue includes six short stories/novel excerpts. Also, I […]
