+ books, memoir, nonfiction, parenting, writers
When my dear friend Kat came to visit on the day after my son’s first birthday, she brought with her several books, one of which was Rachel Cusk’s brilliant, startling book A Life’s Work: On Becoming a Mother. Kat expressed regret that she had not gotten the book to me sooner, but now having read the book, I have to say I think her … Read More A Life’s Work, by Rachel Cusk
Best of the Web 2008 Contents Announced Dzanc Books’ Best of the Web 2008 anthology hits stores next Tuesday and can be ordered online, or pre-ordered at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or by your favorite store today! Ryan Call recently reviewed the collection at NewPages.com, ending his review with: “The book both recognizes a wide range of quality online writing, and gives its readers … Read More Best of the Web 2008 Contents Announced
I will be reading at the Book B Que hosted by Quick Fiction and NOÖ Journal on June 23 at Brookline Booksmith. Reading begins at 7PM.
Jack Gorse/Ronan the protagonist of Pamela Erens’s smashing debut novel, The Understory, is a man obsessed: with twins, with vegetation, with books, with his routine, and with a kind-hearted architect named Patrick. He is also searching, it seems, for that other part of himself—the other half of himself. At one point, he hopes he will find that other within Patrick, but really that other … Read More The Understory, by Pamela Erens
+ books, fiction, Matthew M. Quick, novel, writers
You are so going to want to order yourself a copy of The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel by Matthew M. Quick. The book is not released until September 2nd, but it is already racking up much-deserved praise. Matthew and I have never met in person, but for a few years now have been friends via email. You couldn’t find a more charming and … Read More The Silver Linings Playbook, by Matthew M. Quick
+ books, literary, nonfiction, writers
If I press a book into your hand and beg you to read it, you will know that I am doing so because I love the book and I want to share that love with you. When you examine the beloved book, you will note how many pages I’ve dog eared. The more dog ears, the deeper my love. Paul Lisicky’s gorgeous, tender book … Read More Famous Builder, by Paul Lisicky
Paula Nangle’s debut novel, The Leper Compound, is a book I won’t soon forget. I’m tempted to call it a novel-in-stories as each chapter is perfectly self-contained and yet the whole does provide one full narrative. Regardless, it is a brilliant effort. The book starts out with Colleen as a motherless child ill with Malaria and ends with the death of her father and … Read More The Leper Compound, by Paula Nangle
Any of you city slickers who imagine small-town life is dull ought to read Laura Benedict’s suspenseful, sexy, and haunting debut novel, Isabella Moon, as this book set in Carystown, Kentucky, proves otherwise. It’s a page turner that is just as much about character as it is about plot. In fact, the characters are richly, artfully drawn with Benedict’s deft hand. And just who … Read More Isabella Moon, by Laura Benedict
+ books, fiction, flash fiction, Kim Chinquee, literary, short stories, short story, small press, storytelling, writers
Be prepared: Oh Baby, Kim Chinquee’s debut collection, will knock you on your ass. It’s a book about love: mother for child; child for mother, for father; man for woman; woman for man and man and man. Love for running. Love for vodka. It’s a book about women: a runner, an artist, a nurse, a mother, a girlfriend, a wife, a daughter, a friend. … Read More Oh Baby, by Kim Chinquee
The women and girls found within the stories of Rachel Sherman’s short story collection, The First Hurt are flawed–internally, externally–fucked up, marked, imperfect. And that is what makes them so appealing. Within these pages, they show us their dark hearts, their secret bumps, the skin that they pick at. They show us what makes them tick, which is–as the narrator explains in the title … Read More The First Hurt, by Rachel Sherman
I’m pleased to announce that I am a published memoirist! That’s right my very own six word memoir is included in the excellent new book: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. I’m on the same page as my friend, Ellen Meister. For my money, her memoir is the best in the book! Want to learn more? Here’s … Read More Six Word Memoir!
+ books, fiction, nonfiction, notable
How many of the NYT 100 notable books have you read? Me: I’m reading Bridge of Sighs, I’ve read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, next up I will read Out Stealing Horses: A Novel. My own notable books of the year list includes: Famous Fathers and Other Stories and God Is Dead.
myfanwy collins 