Suspend Your Disbelief

Author Archive

Shop Talk |

Help give away 1,000,000 books on World Book Night!

by Celeste Ng

If you love a book, then give it away. Isn’t that how the saying goes? World Book Night launched in the UK in 2011, with thousands of people handing out copies of paperbacks. This year, it’s taking place in the U.S. too, on April 23, with plans to give away a MILLION books for free to “new or light readers.” The list of books includes lots of great titles, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Colllins, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao […]


Shop Talk |

Maurice Sendak on The Colbert Report

by Celeste Ng

Earlier this week, Stephen Colbert interviewed the fantastically curmudgeonly Maurice Sendak on the Colbert Report. If you like either Colbert or Maurice Sendak, you’ll enjoy it. Like both, and you’ll be chortling with joy. Part 1: The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 1 www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive Part 2: The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 2 www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive


Shop Talk |

Slaughterhouse 90210

by Celeste Ng

As you might guess from its name, Tumblr site Slaughterhouse 90210 pairs stills from TV shows with literary quotes—with both hilarious and thought-provoking results: If you think about it, My So-Called-Life and Anne of Avonlea are indeed thematic soulmates. And Mad Men and Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook make an inspired match. Still need convincing? “She felt, in every way it was possible, astonished that she had slept with him.” —Lorrie Moore, Like Life ‘Nuff said. Go check it out.


Shop Talk |

Book-of-the-Week Winners: Breaking and Entering

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last week we featured Eileen Pollack’s new novel, Breaking and Entering, as our Book-of-the-Week title, and we’re pleased to announce the winners. Congratulations: Nisa (@14writer) Procrastinatress (@denfemte) Jason Atkinson (@jasoncatkinson) To claim your free copy, 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 |

Banned word—or best word?

by Celeste Ng

Did you know that periodically, the French comb through their language and pick out interloping words? The Academie Francaise, charged with publishing an official (if non-binding) dictionary of French, intermittently posts lists of banned English words that have wormed their way into the French language. In previous years, the Academie has suggested banning “le email,” “le blog,” and “le fast-food.” But this kind of linguistic purification isn’t just for the French. Lake Superior State University has come up with a list of banished words for 2012. Topping the list? “Amazing,” “baby bump,” and “shared sacrifice.” Other much-used words made it […]


Reviews |

[Reviewlet] The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka

A finalist for the National Book Award, Julie Otsuka’s innovative novel The Buddha in the Attic pushes the bounds of narrative form with a collective narrator and a resistance to fixed fates. By inviting the reader to consider what could have happened, instead of what did, Otsuka makes her complicit in the fate of the story’s mail-order-brides.


Shop Talk |

Resolved to write more in 2012? It's not too late.

by Celeste Ng

Perhaps one of your resolutions this year was to write more. (You too?) And now January is two-thirds over, and well, you haven’t done quite as much as you’d hoped. All you need is a gentle kick in the pants prompt to get you started. This year, two great writing sites are each offering tidbits of inspiration: First up, Figment, a digital community for young fiction writers, is offering a new “Daily Themes” newsletter. Between January 2 and March 30, subscribers will receive a prompt via email—what a great way to get writing first thing in the morning! Good offers […]


Shop Talk |

Is the Times giving up on fiction?

by Charlotte Boulay

Image credit: Literary Kicks Every week for the past two months, I’ve played a game where, on Sunday mornings, before I open the New York Times Book Review, I try to guess how many more books of nonfiction than fiction it will review. Fiction is consistently outnumbered, and don’t even get me started on the Book Review’s nearly nonexistent poetry coverage. But the past week surprised even this pessimistic grouch—only TWO fictional works are reviewed in the January 8, 2012 edition, plus Marilyn Stasio’s excellent crime reviewlets, in contrast to ELEVEN nonfiction works. The two fiction reviews are both skimpy […]




Literary Partners