In Defense Of Horror
“How certain are you, anyhow, that what you call ‘unpleasantness’ is not a necessary, even crucial, part of our experience? Maybe you should lock yourself up in your heart long…
Features & Reviews
9301 posts
Lightbulbs to Moons
“As lightbulbs are to the moon, first stories are to finished books.” The Morning News talks with author Philip Graham about publishing his first short story, writing dispatches for McSweeney’s,…
Amazon Continues the eBook Fight
“Amazon.com has threatened to stop directly selling the books of some publishers online unless they agree to a detailed list of concessions regarding the sale of electronic books, according to…
“We are seeing renewed interest in the short story.”
Well here’s some good news for all you short fiction writers: “The Atlantic is going to start publishing fiction again.”
“Least of All for Profit”
“I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work — a life’s work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit,…
The Best of It
Kay Ryan has been compared to Emily Dickinson, and I like to imagine Dickinson and Marianne Moore reading her with sly commiseration. Unlike some poets with recognizable styles, Ryan does…
A Tipsy Tribute to the Leading Literary Lush of the Emerald Isle: Brendan Behan
At least as well known for his boozing as for his books, iconic Irish author Brendan Behan (1923 – 1964) was a rollicking, larger-than-life Gaelic knockabout—a foul-mouthed, furry-chested stereotype of…
Why Don Pedro Drinks
“Why Don Pedro Drinks” by José Marín Cañas Translated by Gilbert Alter-Gilbert “Why Don Pedro Drinks” is from José Marín Cañas’ 1929 collection of crepuscular tales about alcoholics, The Rum…
Reviewing the Reviews
“Why do Tao’s negative book reviews seem to always cite as evidence Tao’s gimmickry?” Brandon Scott Gorrell, author of During My Nervous Breakdown I Want to Have a Biographer Present,…
“Good” May Not Be Good Enough
“The recent recession hit the book industry just like it did every other business, and even though we’re emerging from the chasm, book sales haven’t completely recovered, so publishers are…
American History X-treme
A former neo-Nazi’s memoir describes a violent life in the white supremacist movement and his transformative experiences in prison.
Life Graphs
HTMLGiant asks an important question: does your life suck (normal life) or blow (successful writer’s life)?