“The Lost Episodes of Revie Bryson,” by Bryan Furuness
I went to Catholic school, damn it. They guilted me good and thick. In junior high, the young priest who led the boys’ sex ed talk referred to masturbation as…
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“Sweet Tooth,” by Ian McEwan
Page-turner thrillers of all stripes trade on nimbly accelerating plot mechanics and narrative sleights-of-hand that highlight the gap between what eventually transpires and what readers (and, often, the intrepid hero)…
“As Long As Trees Last” by Hoa Nguyen
Seattle’s renowned independent press, Wave Books, recently published Hoa Nguyen’s third full-length collection of poems, As Long As Trees Last. In it, Nguyen once again dares to experiment with form,…
“Unbuilt Projects,” by Paul Lisicky
“It is hard work to be dead,” writes Paul Lisicky, referring to his mom. “She should have been in training for this, instead of putting her feet up in front…
“50 American Plays” by Matthew and Michael Dickman
I’ve visited exactly half of the states that make up our federal constitutional republic. I’m counting states that I’ve lived in, vacationed in, or merely driven through. Some of the…
The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets by Diana Wagman
The recent glut of apocalyptic novels has encouraged readers’ desires to become armchair spectators to doom. Our front-row seats at the end-of-days enable us to cheer for the scrappy protagonist…
“Mortality,” by Christopher Hitchens
An amorphous aura resonates around authors we discover on our own. Before we hear of their fame and talent, before everyone recommends their book as a “must read” we find…
“What Is Amazing” by Heather Christle
What Is Amazing by Heather Christle is another illustration of my frustration with the word “critic,” why I think “appreciator” is a closer approximation and why I’m still open to…
“The 6.5 Habits of Moderately Successful Poets,” by Jeffrey Skinner
You might be forgiven if, like a kid looking through the newspaper for comic strips, you return to this book only to enjoy the humorous lists, tables, and other extras…
Crossing State Lines: An American Renga edited by Bob Homan and Carol Muske-Dukes
I first discovered Renga: A Chain of Poems (Brazillier, 1972) in a used bookstore in New York during my first year of graduate school. I was transfixed.
“The Festival of Earthly Delights,” by Matt Dojny
When asked by Necessary Fiction to describe the research for his debut novel, The Festival of Earthly Delights, Matt Dojny hand-wrote a scrawling response filled with oddities, doodles, and this…
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Kevin Nolan reviews Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan today in Rumpus Books.