The Fiction Fix is your weekly dose of short story. If that’s not your drug of choice, too bad: consider it medicine. Every week, we’ll scour the literary magazines you don’t have time to read, online and in print, and let you know where to find one story worth reading.
This week we’re directing you to One Story #118, “Hurt People” by Cote Smith. One Story is keeping short story love alive by sending subscribers exactly what it says, one story, every three weeks. The magazine is edited by Hannah Tinti — you may have noticed we’re rather fond of her around here — and has published some of our favorite writers: Ben Greenman, Lauren Groff, Nam Le, Kelly Link, Kevin Wilson, and many more. Issue #118 arrived in a very special envelope touting Cote Smith’s publishing debut. Read what we thought of it after the jump. Read More »
Michael Cirelli is the author of Lobster with Ol’ Dirty Bastard, a collection of poetry, and the Executive Director of Urban Word NYC, a non-profit organization that offers “literary arts education and youth development programs in the areas of creative writing, journalism, college prep, literature and hip-hop.” We posted “Michelle” from his forthcoming collection Vacations on the Black Star Line back in January to celebrate Barack Obama’s inauguration to some interesting reactions. We recently caught up with Michael and asked him what Urban Word NYC’s all about, what poets actually do during National Poetry Month, and what he thought about the comments on “Michelle.” Our conversation after the jump.
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Oh, New York, it was a pleasure to spy on you this week. We saw Middlesex, The Great Gatsby, and Jane Eyre in kanji. We saw two novels about the gentrification of our fair city: Lush Life by Richard Price and The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem. Sure, we’ve seen a lot of these books on the subway before, but they’re great, and we’re always happy to see some one enjoying one of our favorites for the first time. Read More »
Mary Robison is widely considered to be a charter member of the canon of literary minimalists. She prefers “subtractionist,” according to a 2001 interview in Bomb Magazine, because “that at least implied a little effort.” After publishing short stories in several magazines, including The New Yorker, back when magazines other than The New Yorker still published short fiction, she published her first story collection, An Amatuer’s Guide to the Night, in 1983. Read More »
We’re giving up our precious subway reading time to check out what you’re reading, and lately we’ve been reading some good stuff (more on that to come, don’t you worry), and it’s been tough to put it back in the bag and pay attention to what’s going on around us. Luckily, spying has its thrills. For example, when some one’s got a hardcover with no dust jacket, and we manage to catch a glimpse of the title at the top of the page without seeming too creepy. Or when we see an old, crumbly, used-bookstore paperback, or a book of which we heartily approve (hint: we do not feel the thrill of the hunt when we spot a book by Steve Harvey or John Grisham). Read More »
It would be impossible, or at least much more difficult, to be a book blogger without book publicists. We email; they send review copies. We email; they set up author interviews. Often, they email to thank us for covering their books. They add us to lists so that we no longer have to request review copies; the books just arrive in the mail, like presents! In our experience, book publicists appear to realize that as book review coverage is stripped out of newspapers and/or newspapers themselves fold. Bloggers are their friends. We’re ready and willing to fill the gap left by disappearing print book coverage. Here at Flavorwire, we have never received a pitch or an email about covering an upcoming book that suggested the person on the other end thought we were less-than because we’re a blog.
Until now.
Click through to see the letter, and get a lesson in how not to treat bloggers.
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The Fiction Fix is your weekly dose of short story. If that’s not your drug of choice, too bad: consider it medicine. Every week, we’ll scour the literary magazines you don’t have time to read, online and in print, and let you know where to find one story worth reading.
This week, we’re recommending Michael Cera’s Pinecone in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #30. Yes, that Michael Cera. Although we love pointing you toward mostly-unknown writers in literary magazines that are not available on Amazon or in your local Barnes & Noble, we are endorsing this story because maybe you decided a long time ago you were over McSweeney’s, or maybe you roll your eyes when a movie star gets literary. If so, get over yourself. Read More »
Last week, The New York Observer reported that Joanna Smith Rakoff was asked by her publisher, Scribner, to change the title of her debut novel, as it turned out to be the very same title another Scribner author, Colm Toíbín. This news seems to have drawn some minor ire around the web:
“Would the young debut novelist mind getting out of the way?” [NY Observer]
“Listen, baby, I totally think you’re the shit, but, see, this other guy has WAY more profile than you, and he wants to title his book the same thing you do… so even though you’ve been working on this for years, I’d like you to come up with something else for the midlist catalo—er, I mean, publicists to use.” [Bookninja] Read More »
On Monday, we hit up the new wine local shop, and in addition to a brief lesson on the proper serving temperature of Sauvignon Blanc (hint: take it out of the fridge and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes before drinking), we caught a glimpse of Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut on the counter. Monkey House is a collection of short stories, including Harrison Bergeron, a creepiest and most dystopian reading to ever be assigned by an 8th grade language arts teacher. And with that, Adam’s Wines and Liquors has won our loyalty and booze-buying dollars.
After the jump, we return to the subways to seek out other bookworms.
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The Fiction Fix is your weekly dose of short story. If that’s not your drug of choice, too bad: consider it medicine. Every week, we’ll scour the literary magazines you don’t have time to read, online and in print, and let you know where to find one story worth reading.
Only this week, we’re not just pointing you to one story. There are no less than nine links to excerpts, stories, and downloads for the 2009 Hugo Award nominations on the website for the 67th World Science Fiction Convention. If that sounds way too geeky for you, check out this list of some past Hugo winners: Michael Chabon, Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, J.K. Rowling, Isaac Asimov… the Hugos might presented each year at a giant nerd-con, but the work upon which the awards are bestowed quite often transcends the boundaries of genre.
Read our thoughts on two of the short story nominees, both of which have “monkey” in the title, after the jump.
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