…to the conclusion of the story and enjoying it immensely. Now that I’m in New York, I hope to make it to one of the live stage performances of Selected Shorts. If you’re lucky enough to already have a ticket, on May 26th Selected Shorts will celebrate the stories of This American Life with an evening featuring Ira Glass, Mike Birbiglia and Elna Baker. Just in time for Short Story Month, this evening is also a part of New York Book Week. I’m excit…
…defensively patriotic second-generationer who rents out his spare room to newly arrived immigrants. The sex that happens next door to that spare room is straight from a bad download: in the aptly titled, “Szmura’s Room,” Szmura subjects his roommate Bogdan to an audio clip of his one-night-stand routine, a call-and-response of begging for it and dishing it out. Szmura finds an odd parallel in his rickety old landlady, the grandmother of a discard…
…comes with a special NaNoWriMo novel template which automatically sets your target at the requisite 50,000 words. And those who achieve 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo this year will get a coupon for 50% off a purchase of Scrivener for Windows once it’s released. Their website offers more information on the both Windows and Mac versions and the opportunity to download beta versions of each. Finally, if you just want your typed words to look a little mor…
…e to Mattapan. You can also grab a copy from one of our fabulous volunteers at select T-stops from 7am – 9am September 27th – October 1st. The fine folks at BBF give you a full list of where to find the story here. You can also download it from their site. Any readers in Boston planning on participating? I’m intrigued by the whole short-story-sharing model. Dreaming about handing out stories to my neighbors and having a One Building One Story mini…
…Tear Us Apart). Moderated by Donald Breckenridge (You are Here). Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia. Celebrate the literature of post-Soviet Russia with readings from Rasskazy, the Tin House anthology of new Russian fiction, featuring readings by Francine Prose (Goldengrove), Dale Peck (Sprout), Anya Ulinich (Petropolis) and Vadim Yarmolinets (Led Zeppelin ‘Jericho 86-89’). Journalist Emily Gould will interview Rasskazy contributor Dmitry Dan…
…ival opted for One City, One Story. The BBF chose local legend Tom Perrotta‘s “The Smile on Happy Chang’s Face” as the tale to get people talking. On September 30th they’ll be giving away 30,000 bound copies of the story at locations around the city. You’ll also be able to download a PDF of the story on the BBF website. Added bonus: on October 16 Tom Perotta will be on hand to discuss his story at the BBF festivities on Copley Square. What do you…
…e the details of Hunt’s horse ranch—the underlying plot of the chase is so compelling that it pulled me along at breakneck speed. Simply put: will Phil Hunt escape the man hired to kill him? The jacket copy of the novel refers to the book as a “literary thriller,” and I was wondering if you could talk a little about how you’ve balanced a page-turning plot with your literary sensibility? Urban Waite: This sounds horrible to say, but I’m not really…
…an adds that she finds Vaughn’s writing to be similar to Lorrie Moore, the combination of “comedy and irony with terribly sad moments.” This comparison strikes me as apt, especially in the five (potentially six) stories narrated by Gemma. The details of her life and even her narrative voice are fluid in these interconnected stories, which revolve around the impression her military father made on her family. The majority of the stories are narrated…
…created their own cast of tough-looking characters that paid homage to Capcom’s beloved arcade fighting series. However, they felt that for their new word game, a literary take might make more sense and have a broader appeal. “We changed our art direction because the majority of the feedback we got was that the gameplay was quite solid, but the gritty Street Fighter-style of our early builds made the game feel like it catered to boys,” said Cruz…
…d the FWR review here!) Andrew Scott / Andrew’s Book Club: with In This Light: New and Selected Stories by Melanie Rae Thon, with more giveaways during the month. Mark Staniforth / Eleutherophobia: with a copy of Palo Alto by James Franco, and also a link to a temporarily free download of his story collection, Fryupdale Becky Wolsk / Text Isle Patchwork: with Other People We Married by Emma Straub Susan Woodring / The Habitual Writer: with three g…
