Frequent readers of this blog will know that I found Chris Adrian’s short story collection “A Better Angel” to be one of the more fascinating short story collections of 2008. Which is why I decided to do an in-depth 2500-word review. In a reviewing culture that rarely gives space to short fiction, and space, when […]
This blog will be on break this week because I’ll be in San Diego for a few days, considering 2008 and making up goals for 2009. Happy New Year.
Just in time for the Christmas-day debut of the Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett film, Jacket Copy has a multi-blogger discussion about the Scott Fitzgerald short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I’m one of the voices in this discussion, so please pop over there as the posts roll out over the next couple of days.
In the hearty spirit of good holiday fun, I offer this sweet Christmas bah-humbug, gleaned from John Updike’s “The Twelve Terrors of Christmas,” which is illustrated quite well by Edward Gorey. The First Terror: 1. Santa: The Man Loose-fitting nylon beard, fake optical twinkle, cheap red suit, funny rummy smell when you sit on his […]
This Christmas, if a regular hardback won’t please your hardcore bibliophile friends, RainTaxi, the venerable book review mag, has an auction going down on Ebay. All proceeds not only get you great stuff but let you support the magazine at the same time. Books on the auction block included autographed books from Sherman Alexie, Matthew […]
For all you belated shoppers out there, and for all two of you not already sickened by the blizzard of Best-Of lists, here’s my picks for the best short stories of 2008. I read a good chunk of them — most that I’ve read are in my sidebar, though I’ve neglected to add a few. […]
Bookslut offers five books for the Best Foreign Fiction of 2008. 2666 makes the cut, unsurprisingly, as well as Metropole, by Ferenc Karinthy. The Millions has their annual “Year in Reading.” If you want a slightly different take on the Fiction 2008 lists, try the Financial Times book suggestions. (via) The TLS has authors suggest […]
Want to win a free short story collection? New York Times listed its 100 Notable Books of the Year. Out of 42 fiction titles, 9 were short story collections — a ratio that’s not too shabby, in my book. Also, the ratio’s virtually identical to last year, which listed 8 short story collections. All short […]
I like N+1, both specifically and generally. Specifically in that usually I enjoy the articles infused with the scathing wit that could earn any writer the moniker of Captain Contrarian. Generally in that I support the idea of having a publication that isn’t afraid to upend convention wisdom and challenge the cultural sages. (Those rhetorically […]
It’s that time of year again: the shortlist of the Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award has been announced. It’s just in time for the Holiday season, in case you’re interested in reading (or getting an annoying co-worker to read) badly written sex scenes. Or, at the very least, it will provide amusing online […]
