Suspend Your Disbelief

Recent Posts

Shop Talk |

The "Wolf Hall Effect"

by Celeste Ng

With the 2010 Man Booker Prize announcement just over a week away, let’s take a quick look back. The Booker is one of world’s top literary prizes, and Booker prize winners are regarded as highly influential books. So what effect did last year’s winner, Hilary Mantel’s wildly popular Wolf Hall, have? First, the personal effect on the author herself: in The Economist’s Intelligent Life, Mantel describes her experience winning the Man Booker Prize. Some nine months on, I can report that the Man Booker has done me nothing but good. Because I am in the middle of a project—my next […]


Shop Talk |

Calling all Bostonians

by Lee Thomas

As a quick follow-up to the One City One Story post last week, we wanted to let you know where you can get your hands on a copy of Tom Perrotta’s “The Smile on Happy Chang’s Face,” courtesy of the Boston Book Festival. They write: Starting Monday September 27th the story will be available at all Boston Public Library branches, several cafes and bookstores from Charlestown to Rozzie and farmers markets from Dewey Square 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. […]


Shop Talk |

Library Art (Literally)

by Celeste Ng

Shelved books, in and of themselves, can be quite decorative, but perhaps you’re looking for book-themed art that’s more… frameable. No problem. On Etsy, artist Jane Mount will create a custom painting of your “ideal bookshelf.” (Via.) Writes Mount: It can include up to 22 books of your choice. All you have to do is send me a photo of the full spines of the books together on a shelf, large enough that I should be able to read all the authors, titles and publishers. If you don’t have them all together you can take photos of them separately and […]


Shop Talk |

Book of the Week Giveaway: The Wilding, by Benjamin Percy

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last month, Fiction Writers Review launched a Fan Page on Facebook. The goal is threefold: to introduce new readers to FWR, to create an informal place for conversations about writing, and also to give away lots of free books. Each week we’ll give away several free copies of a featured novel or story collection as part of our Book-of-the-Week program. All you have to do to be eligible for our weekly drawing is to be a fan of our Facebook page. No catch, no gimmicks. And once you’re a fan, you’ll be automatically entered in each subsequent drawing. Last week […]


Interviews |

Some Supernatural Source of Primal Energy: An Interview with Benjamin Percy

by Shawn Andrew Mitchell

Graywolf published Benjamin Percy’s much-anticipated debut novel The Wilding earlier this week. Shawn Mitchell talks with the acclaimed story writer about making the transition between the short and long forms, his apprenticeship to the craft of story, the obsessions that drive his work, and how he manages to balance his fiction and family life with teaching, traveling on assignment for magazines like Outside and The Wall Street Journal, and contributing regularly to publications like Esquire, Men’s Journal, and Poets & Writers.


Shop Talk |

The Future of the Book? Try Futures.

by Celeste Ng

As Barnes and Noble looks to sell itself, chatter about the “future of the book” has grown. But would “futures” be more appropriate? NPR investigates: Dan Visel, a founder of the appropriately named Institute for the Future of the Book, points out that, first of all, a “book” can mean many things: A cookbook, a comic book, a history book and an electronic book are all animals of different stripes. “It would be a mistake to think that these various forms have a single, unified future,” Visel says. “Rather, I think it’s more appropriate to say that there are futures […]


Shop Talk |

"It's A Book."

by Celeste Ng

With all the discussion of ebooks and social networking and iThis and iThat, are you worried that the children of the future won’t recognize a book when they see it? Fear not. Author and illustrator Lane Smith’s new picture book, It’s a Book, explores the merits of a good old-fashioned paper book. It provides a valuable and tongue-in-cheek lesson for kids of the future and Kids These Days. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Smith discusses the genesis of the book and why he’s actually not anti-technology: What do you think of the concept of e-books or reading […]


Shop Talk |

Tao Lin: Literary guerilla marketer for the Internet era?

by Celeste Ng

Salon.com’s Daniel B. Roberts profiles Tao Lin, an emerging writer with an eye for unusual self-marketing opportunities. Lin has sold “shares” of his novel Richard Yates—$2000 for 10% of the domestic profits. He’s also auctioned off a package of goodies—including a T-shirt, an unpublished draft of a short story, and a “unique drawing of a Sasquatch holding a hamburger”—on his blog. And he engages with his readers directly using the internet and social networking, even posting his phone number online. Judging by his blog’s URL—http://heheheheheheheeheheheehehe.com/—Lin has a sense of humor about his work and his own marketing. But Roberts doesn’t […]


Shop Talk |

One City, One … Story?

by Lee Thomas

Many of us probably live in a city that’s participated in some version of “One City, One Book,” which is a great way to spark a conversation between strangers. This year the Boston Book Festival 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 […]


Shop Talk |

eBook Readers Read More, Socialize More?

by Celeste Ng

Okay, they’re lighter. They’re cheaper. Some have argued that they’re greener, too. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that ebook readers read more books: A study of 1,200 e-reader owners by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. found that 40% said they now read more than they did with print books. Of those surveyed, 58% said they read about the same as before while 2% said they read less than before. And 55% of the respondents in the May study, paid for by e-reader maker Sony Corp., thought they’d use the device to read even more books in the future. […] […]




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