Suspend Your Disbelief

Author Archive

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Literary Halloween Costume Ideas

by Celeste Ng

Going to a Halloween party this weekend? Here’s a roundup of costume ideas–literary, of course! Last year, LitDrift published a great list, including some clever ideas: Gulliver from Gulliver’s Travels: This one will evoke true fright, since we all know how terrifying it is to be tied down by hundreds of miniature Lilliputians. Use a simple outfit for the base: oxford shirt and slacks pushed up to reveal your socks. Then add the finishing touch by attaching a bunch of little army men to string and pinning them all over your body so that they are hanging down at all […]


Reviews |

East of the West: A Country in Stories, by Miroslav Penkov

by Steven Wingate

Bulgarian-American author Miroslav Penkov’s debut short story collection East of the West (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) comes at a time when his native country’s literary star is on the rise in the west. In this auspicious moment, Penkov delivers a heck of a book.


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Vampires and zombies and literature, oh my…

by Celeste Ng

A while back, we noted that vampire lit had–well, gone legit. (If you can major in it in college, it’s legit.) But it’s not just vampires. All kinds of characters previously relegated to genre writing–zombies, werewolves, and monsters galore–have migrated into mainstream literature. Can we blame this on Twilight, or is something bigger at work here? Harldy, says Joe Fassler in The Atlantic, offering several reasons “literary” fiction has turned towards genre: There was a time in recent memory when writers took their cues primarily from the literary figures that came before them. But in 2011, our literary, media, and […]


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Book of the Week: Men in the Making, by Bruce Machart

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

This week’s feature is Bruce Machart’s debut story collection Men in the Making, published this week by Houghton Mifflin. He is also the author of the acclaimed 2010 novel The Wake of Forgiveness, which won the Steven Turner Prize for debut fiction from The Texas Institute of Letters. It was also selected by Independent Booksellers for their Indie Next List and by the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association as its “Reading the West” book of the year, as well as named a finalist for the PEN/USA Literary Prize. The stories in this new collection have appeared in Zoetrope: All […]


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Occupy… Your Bookshelf

by Celeste Ng

So you may have heard about this little thing happening on Wall Street (and in L.A., Boston, Phoenix, San Diego, Chicago, Cincinnati, Berlin, Paris–oh, just read the list here). What you may not know is that the Occupy Wall Street protestors have a library of their own. Reports GalleyCat: As the Occupy Wall Street protest continues, the activists camped out in New York City have built an impressive library. Thanks to Library Thing, you can now explore the library online and watch it grow. Currently, the makeshift library counts 390 books. Well, that was on October 11–the library now stands […]


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Journal-of-the-Week Winners: Hobart

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last week we featured Hobart as our Journal-of-the-Week title, and we’re pleased to announce the winners. Congratulations to: Laura Sorrells (@Graceriver) Laurie Koozer (@yinzrreadin) Dave Martin (@martindave) To claim your free subscription, 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!


Interviews |

The Man and the Making: An Interview with Bruce Machart

“Thunderstruck,” Aaron Cance describes his reading of Bruce Machart’s two debut books: a novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, and a story collection, Men in the Making, out this week. They also discuss the themes of faith, masculinity, and love, and how a New England basement is a helpful metaphor for writing.


Shop Talk |

One Letter Missing

by Celeste Ng

Oh, the difference a single letter makes! The recent Twitter hashtag #bookswithalettermissing marks hilarious (and sometimes brilliant) titles like: @CodeNameTanya: Notes on a Sandal @KBreathnach: Civilization and its Disco Tents @SPLBuzz Harold and the Purple Rayon @EditorEric: The Mon Is a Harsh Mistress: Heinlein’s memoir of a relationship w/Jamaican transvestite dominatrix @atbennet: Far from the adding crowd: a little something for the math-phobic @GetUpInFront: “F” Mice and Men. Steinbeck’s middle finger to the plight of the migrant laborer. The Huffington Post has a great roundup, and you can search Twitter for the latest. Share yours with us!


Shop Talk |

Franz Kafka. Frank Capra. Franz Capra. Frank Kafka.

by Celeste Ng

To you into the Halloween spirit, here is a wacky and delightfully creepy little short film combining Kafka–struggling to write his story “The Metamorphosis”–and Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. The film won an Oscar for Best Short Live Action Film in 1994. Here’s Part 1. Hooked? Here ‘s the rest:Part 2 / Part 3. (Via.)




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