He got up and sat on the edge of the bedstead with his back to the window. “It’s better not to sleep at all,” he decided. There was a cold damp draught from the window, however; without getting up he drew the blanket over him and wrapped himself in it. He was not thinking of anything and did not want to think. But one image rose after another, incoherent scraps of thought without beginning or end passed through his mind. He sank into drowsiness. Perhaps the cold, or the dampness, or the dark, or the wind that howled under the window and tossed the trees roused a sort of persistent craving for the fantastic. He kept dwelling on images of flowers, he fancied a charming flower garden, a bright, warm, almost hot day, a holiday—Trinity day. A fine, sumptuous country cottage in the English taste overgrown with fragrant flowers, with flower beds going round the house; the porch, wreathed in climbers, was surrounded with beds of roses. A light, cool staircase, carpeted with rich rugs, was decorated with rare plants in china pots. He noticed particularly in the windows nosegays of tender, white, heavily fragrant narcissus bending over their bright, green, thick long stalks. He was reluctant to move away from them, but he went up the stairs and came into a large, high drawing-room and again everywhere—at the windows, the doors on to the balcony, and on the balcony itself—were flowers. The floors were strewn with freshly-cut fragrant hay, the windows were open, a fresh, cool, light air came into the room. The birds were chirruping under the window, and in the middle of the room, on a table covered with a white satin shroud, stood a coffin. The coffin was covered with white silk and edged with a thick white frill; wreaths of flowers surrounded it on all sides. Among the flowers lay a girl in a white muslin dress, with her arms crossed and pressed on her bosom, as though carved out of marble. But her loose fair hair was wet; there was a wreath of roses on her head. The stern and already rigid profile of her face looked as though chiselled of marble too, and the smile on her pale lips was full of an immense unchildish misery and sorrowful appeal. Svidrigaïlov knew that girl; there was no holy image, no burning candle beside the coffin; no sound of prayers: the girl had drowned herself. She was only fourteen, but her heart was broken. And she had destroyed herself, crushed by an insult that had appalled and amazed that childish soul, had smirched that angel purity with unmerited disgrace and torn from her a last scream of despair, unheeded and brutally disregarded, on a dark night in the cold and wet while the wind howled

The Blog

  • Amazon Wades Into the Literary Journal World image of tag icon

    The Kenyon Review just revealed that Amazon's funding their short story competition: The Kenyon Review is one of a diverse range of not-for-profit author and publisher groups receiving support from Amazon.com for programs dedicated to developing new voices and new books, including the Council for Literary Magazines and Presses, Lambda Literary Foundation, Poets & Writers, One Story, Ledig […]

     Read More
  • New Zyzzyva Editor image of tag icon

    Remember Howard Junker’s faux retirement last year, before he pulled back at the last moment because they couldn’t find anyone to take his place? Well, they found someone. After his long tenure at Zyzzyva, Junker is finally handing the reins over to the current managing editor, Laura Cogan. An ad in Poets & Writers tipped me […]

     Read More
  • Amazon Book Categories: Breaking News!!! image of tag icon

    At 11:42 last night, Wednesday the 27th of October, the number of Amazon Book Categories superseded the actual number of books they sell. The category that put the tally over the edge was “Baking for Emo Vampire Teens,” created especially for a new cookbook, “Black Blood Sausages: Balancing Bodily Fluids and Dark Colors in Your […]

     Read More
  • VQR’s Ted Genoways Exonerated image of tag icon

    Ted Genoways has been exonerated from Kevin Morrissey's suicide by a University audit. Of course, the audit might be merely trying to cover the university's backside for lawsuit purposes. The overall conclusion is given in clinical terms: Overall, there were several institutional notifications of problems within VQR, but no specific allegations of bullying or harassment […]

     Read More
  • The Pitfalls of Historical and Exotic Fiction image of tag icon

    I’ve been watching Mad Men. It frequently underwhelms me. It’s also frustrating, and the reason for my frustration overlaps onto some fiction. One of my main problems is that the show doesn’t portray a historical period as much as luridly exhibits all the aspects of that historical period that seem offensive. The misogyny, the ubiquitous […]

     Read More
  • National Book Award Fiction Nominees image of tag icon

    This morning the National Book Award Nominees were announced. These are the contenders in fiction: Peter Carey, Parrot and Olivier in America (Alfred A. Knopf) Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule (McPherson & Co.) Nicole Krauss, Great House (W.W. Norton & Co.) Lionel Shriver, So Much for That (HarperCollinsPublishers) Karen Tei Yamashita, I Hotel (Coffee House […]

     Read More
  • Why Cormac McCarthy Won’t Win the Nobel Prize for Literature image of tag icon

    A few days ago Cormac McCarthy spiked in the betting pool rankings for who would win the Nobel. He rose past Philip Roth, Don Dellilo, Thomas Pynchon, and Joyce Carol Oates, going from 66/1 to 8/1 to 6/1 to 3/1 and now 5/2. Do I think McCarthy’s deserving? Absolutely. And do I adore his books? […]

     Read More
  • Nobel Prize for Literature 2010 Predictions image of tag icon

    It’s that time again when literary folk dust off their shattered predictions from years past and wager (money, prestige, honor) on who will win the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature. Most likely, you will be wrong. Most likely, virtually everyone will be wrong. Even people who do nothing other than read, study, and talk about […]

     Read More
  • Book Reviewing Interview image of tag icon

    I'm interviewed over at Creative Writing Now about reviewing books. I don't know what was into me, but I felt rather playful and sarcastic the day I answered the questions. RE: below — I don't even have a cat! I even talked about the literary establishment's preference for Jonathan Franzen — I mean, for male […]

     Read More