Suspend Your Disbelief

Archive for 2011

Shop Talk |

It's all in the details… or is it? Movies vs. Fanfiction

by Celeste Ng

I don’t know about you, but when I see a movie after reading the book on which it’s based, I almost always prefer the book to the movie. Okay, there are exceptions: The Lovely Bones, for instance, where I prefered the film, and The Princess Bride—I love both the movie and William Golding’s novel deeply, and differently. But when it comes to Harry Potter, I land firmly on the book side. For me, much of the fun is in the details of Rowling’s world: the Fizzing Whizbees and Puking Pastilles, the elaborate recipes for Polyjuice Potion and the Draught of […]


Essays |

The Problem of the Author: On Not Reading Autobiography into the Writing of Andre Dubus

by Joshua Bodwell

What is the difference between art and life, between the writer and the writing? In this essay on the late, great Andre Dubus, we learn how Dubus recognized “transformative moments” as authors Richard Ford and Anne Beattie, among others, weigh in on his talents, and his legacy.


Shop Talk |

Book of the Week: Once Upon a River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

This week’s feature is Bonnie Jo Campbell’s novel Once Upon a River (Norton, 2011). Campbell grew up on a small farm in Michigan and studied philosophy at the University of Chicago. She received her MFA from Western Michigan University, and now lives outside of Kalamazoo. She is the author of a previous novel, Q Road (Scribner, 2003), and two collections, Women and Other Animals (University of Massachusetts Press, 1999), which won the AWP prize for short fiction, and American Salvage (Wayne State University Press, 2009), which was a finalist in 2009 for both the National Book Award in Fiction and […]


Shop Talk |

Do words hurt the world?

by Celeste Ng

In the Guardian, author Rick Gekoski argues that writing is “bad for you”: When I am writing I wander in a fug all day, wake in the middle of the night – waking my wife Belinda as well – and stagger downstairs to record a thought or two. Leave the bed with my mind whirling with gorgeously formed sentences which are as evanescent as the smell of lily of the valley, and about as easy to recall. By the time I get to the keyboard their perfection (as it seems to me in my drowsy creative mode) has dissipated, and […]


Shop Talk |

Book-of-the-Week Winners: Season of Water and Ice

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last week we featured Season of Water and Ice as our Book-of-the-Week title, and we’re pleased to announce the winners. Congratulations to: Kristin Offiler (@KristinOffiler) Paul Liebert (@paliebert) David Henry Sterry (@Sterryhead) To claim your signed copy of this novel, please email us at the following address: winners [at] fictionwritersreview.com If you’d like to be eligible for future giveaways, please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us!


Shop Talk |

The End of Borders: A Daily Show Perspective

by Celeste Ng

I admit it: when current events become a bit too much to handle, I turn to the Daily Show for some much-needed comedic perspective. Usually it’s politics that’s making me tear my hear out, but here’s Jon Stewart and John Hodgman (a fiction writer himself) finding the humor in the Borders closing. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Borders Goes Out of Business www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook Happy Monday. As John Hodgman would put it, “You’re welcome.” Further Reading: Does the end of […]


Reviews |

Once Upon a River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell

by Brian Short

Bonnie Jo Campbell’s charisma is formidable, and her energy infectious. This same energy can be found in the churning rivers and restless characters of her new novel, the follow-up to Campbell’s acclaimed story collection American Salvage. The protagonist of Once Upon a River is Margo Crane, a teenager who has grown up along the fictional Stark River, obeying its currents and snooping for its secrets.


Shop Talk |

Jane Austen: Word Fighter

by Celeste Ng

The love affair between literature and video games keeps going strong. Who’s the newest literary figure to cross over? Why, Jane Austen, of course. App developer Feel Every Yummy presents Word Fighter, a head-to-head word puzzle game starring literary characters. The game looks like Street Fighter crossed with Boggle, and here’s the trailer, which can only be described as AWESOME: Players can battle as Edgar (Allen Poe), Agatha (Christie), and yes, Jane (Austen). Forbes has the scoop: When Gian Cruz and Kris Zabala, the founders and sole employees of up-and-coming app developer Feel Every Yummy, came up with the idea […]


Interviews |

Not Just Visible But Beautiful: An Interview with Kevin Brockmeier

by Polly Stewart

Known for stories and novels that force us to question the conventional dichotomy between realist and fantasy fiction, Kevin Brockmeier knows how to reveal the strangeness of the world around us. In conversation with Mary Stewart Atwell, Brockmeier discusses his new novel, The Illumination, and the compelling metaphors that inform his writing.


Shop Talk |

Second-hand, but not second-rate

by Celeste Ng

Yesterday we talked about why Borders’ demise doesn’t necessarily mean the end of books. Great, you may be saying. But where am I supposed to buy my books now? Well, for new books, consider your local indie bookstore—you can find one near you on the IndieBound website. But there are also amazing used bookstores out there. First, here’s a video on Brazenhead Books, a speakeasy-like (illegal) bookstore in NYC with a secret location—you can read more about them in the New Yorker, too. (Via.) There’s No Place Like Here: Brazenhead Books from Etsy on Vimeo. (By the way, owner Michael […]




Literary Partners