On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong
by Emily Nagin
“Art needs to be honest. Sometimes, it’s the only pure honesty you’ll get all day.” Emily Nagin reviews Ocean Vuong’s debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
“Art needs to be honest. Sometimes, it’s the only pure honesty you’ll get all day.” Emily Nagin reviews Ocean Vuong’s debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
“Like the eye of a passing storm, these interludes bring a necessary interruption, a pause that allows us (not to mention the characters themselves) to have the time needed to process the stories’ crises before facing their conclusions.” In the second half of this craft essay, Alyson Mosquera Dutemple explores the “penultimate space”—between crisis and resolution—in William Trevor’s “Le Visiteur.”
“Like the eye of a passing storm, these interludes bring a necessary interruption, a pause that allows us (not to mention the characters themselves) to have the time needed to process the stories’ crises before facing their conclusions.” In the first half of this craft essay, Alyson Mosquera Dutemple explores the “penultimate space”—between crisis and resolution—in Gina Berriault’s “The Stone Boy.”
“We want to be understood, but we don’t want to, or feel unable to, share our own stories.” Matthew Robinson sits down with Thea Prieto to discuss Memorial Day, writing the war experience, and his novel-in-stories, The Horse Latitudes.
“That moment when we realize our parents are people, regular people, with flaws and separate lives we have no access to. Brought home, made palpable for the reader, in that little clattering spoon”: Kent Kosack on Lucia Berlin’s coming-of-age story “Itinerary.”
“Even when interacting with the ones they want to love, the men in these stories cannot be fully honest with others or themselves”: Melissa Grunow on Steve Hughes’s debut collection, Stiff, out now from Wayne State University Press.
“I think it’s human nature to dream of what’s on the other side.” Benjamin Woodard chats with Caleb Michael Sarvis about his debut collection, Dead Aquarium, out now from Mastodon Publishing.
“We soon learn that tragedy isn’t exactly foreign to the Cordova family.” Michelle Ross reviews Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s debut collection, Sabrina and Corina, out now from One World.
“Soon matters take an even darker turn.” Jacob M. Appel on Shirley Jackson’s most unsettling short story.
“Reading—and rereading—Lisa Lenzo’s work, I realized what I’m sensing disappearing from the American literary landscape.” Hasanthika Sirisena reviews Lisa Lenzo’s latest collection, Unblinking, out now from Wayne State University Press.
Stories We Love: “White Angel,” by Michael Cunningham
Stories We Love: Donald Barthelme’s “The School,” In Which is Revealed the Meaning of Life
Stories We Love: "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver
Stories We Love: "The Fall River Axe Murders," by Angela Carter
Stories We Love: "Incarnations of Burned Children"
