Author’s Notes: My American Unhappiness
“I was going to use my novel to save Mark Gates’s life”: Dean Bakopoulos on writing, grief, and memory.
“I was going to use my novel to save Mark Gates’s life”: Dean Bakopoulos on writing, grief, and memory.
Preeta Samarasan finds South African novelist Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat to be transformative. The story of an Afrikaner woman and the black servant who has worked for her for most of both their lives, Agaat examines relationships of race and power between the two women by employing a stunning combination of structural intricacy, stylistic range, and daring allegory.
A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism is not your grandfather’s expat novel. In this smart debut, Peter Mountford rolls up his sleeves and delivers a crash course in Latin American history, contemporary economics, and international politics—all within a page-turning story about the dreams and gaffes of a twenty-something American working for an unscrupulous hedge fund in Bolivia.
In this lively conversation, Travis Holland and author Richard Ford discuss the genesis of Ford’s most famous fictional character, Frank Bascombe, the importance of always remembering the reader, greeting cards, what could well be one of the greatest short stories of the 20th century, and why place in fiction means nothing.
A tale of two Londons—present-day and the glitter and doom of the 1920s and 30s—and a shoebox containing a mystery lie at the heart of Kathleen Tessaro’s delectable fourth novel, The Debutante. Lauren Hall calls the book a “fast-paced and enjoyable ride,” equal parts historical mystery and smart, gossipy love story.
New York FWR readers, I envy you: so many great readings lately from FWR friends and contributors! The latest treat: Dean Bakopoulos reads tomorrow night, Wednesday, April 6, at 7pm at Joe’s Pub as part of the Happy Ending Music and Reading Series. The event also features Tea Obreht, Fernanda Eberstadt, and musical guest Jay Brannan. Further Reading: If you haven’t already, read Dean’s fantastic essay “How Reading Junot Diaz Can Help America Prosper.” Visit Dean’s website to learn more about him and his work. Find Dean’s first novel, Please Don’t Come Back From the Moon, at an indie bookstore […]
Reading Deanna Fei’s debut novel, A Thread of Sky, rescued Kate Levin from a giant post-MFA funk. In this conversation with Levin, Fei discusses the role cultural identity plays in a writer’s persona and work, the value of unknowability, the secret to writing great sex scenes, the reason she watches Jersey Shore—and more.
In Icelandic author Bragi Ólafsson’s The Pets, the narrator spends the novel hiding under his bed as his “friends,” who assume he isn’t home, gather in his apartment. Aaron Cance reviews this voyeuristic tale, its quirky narrative, and its debt to Moby Dick.
In this conversation with FWR’s Laura Valeri, Susanna Daniel discusses her debut novel, the fictional memoir Stiltsville, and shares her insights on the process of writing, the power of quiet stories—which she terms eminently readable—and the perseverance and faith that writers must nurture for their own work.
In the tradition of Southern storytelling, Mary Helen Stefaniak’s novel The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia offers a window on the power of myth to transform one small town during the Depression. Leslie Clements explores how that tension between progress and tradition free the inhabitants of Baghdad, Georgia, for radical reinvention.
