We can try to perform our inner lives, but we can’t actually reveal them. We can create a simulacrum, which is so much of what I see on social media, and that simulacrum is entertainment. It’s exciting because we all love the whiff of authenticity, and the more mediated our culture feels, the more we crave it, but we can’t actually give it away. We cannot actually break through the barrier of our individual aloneness.
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Simply put, the novel’s heart is not political but sensual.
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Kate Reed Petty discusses her debut novel, TRUE STORY.
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Namwali Serpell discusses her debut novel, THE OLD DRIFT.
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Sharlene Teo discusses her debut novel, PONTI.
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Ben Gwin discusses his debut novel, Clean Time: The True Story of Ronald Regan Middleton, the book’s unique structure, and writing satire.
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Melissa Fraterrigo discusses her new novel-in-stories, Glory Days, writing speculative fiction, and how our formative years influence us later in life.
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Everyone, no matter how strong or independent, is subject to forces like war, or time, or the claims of family.
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Can domestic life and rock & roll flourish together in contemporary novels? Should they?
...moreAnother wonderful illustrated review from HORN!
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