“There are those who think comic novels are not serious novels. Tell that to Chaucer, Dickens, Heller, Vonnegut, among others. Tell it to Shakespeare! Humor is just a different way to tell a story.” John Blumenthal talks with Nina Buckless about his new comic novel, The Strange Courtship of Abigail Bird.
“Jokes can deliver information in a way that gets through to readers.” Kate Kaplan on the work of “conditional jokes” in Cynthia Ozick, Ana Menéndez, and Paul Beatty.
“Life often feels overwhelmingly absurd and viscerally meaningful at the same time. I wanted to write from that feeling. So, even though my book is a satire of sorts, it’s also a work of loving fascination.” Evan James talks with Mark Mayer about his debut novel.
The Bright Side
“A Lesson in Point of View”
21st Century Existentialism
Instinct gets even the best of us only so far.
“The best laid plans of mice and men…”
“Fail better?”
