Stories We Love: "Ralph The Duck," by Frederick Busch
by Celeste Ng
“It’s a story about how pain lives with us, and the ways we strive to make up for the past”: Celeste Ng on fear and quiet revelations in Frederick Busch’s “Ralph the Duck.”
“It’s a story about how pain lives with us, and the ways we strive to make up for the past”: Celeste Ng on fear and quiet revelations in Frederick Busch’s “Ralph the Duck.”
“Raised on Southern manners, I thrill at the way Gilchrist foxtrots through tea-sipping customs while exposing all manner of prejudice through her narrator, ten-year-old Rhoda, who absorbs the language of the adults around her and then spits it back at them indiscriminately”: Rebecca Scherm explores the power of child narrators through Ellen Gilchrist’s story “Revenge.”
In 2009, Narrative Magazine published Anthony Marra’s short story “Chechnya.” He was a student at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop then and “Chechnya” was his first published story. It won a Pushcart Prize before Marra expanded it into his first published novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, released this week by Hogarth. Lauded by Ann Patchett for being the most “ambitious and fully realized” first novel since Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena connects the lives of six characters surviving the dense hellscape of war-torn Chechnya, 1994-2004. I finished the novel two days before last […]
Danielle LaVaque-Monty talks with Jeanne Sirotkin about the relationship between poetry and fiction, the “awareness of the marvelous,” and the role of epiphany in her work.
During a past Short Story Month, I suggested five ways we might celebrate short stories. Topping the list was this recommendation: Participate in #StorySunday: Reminded each Sunday by @TaniaHershman, short-story fans are encouraged to share a link via Twitter to someone else’s short story using the hashtag #StorySunday. Quick. Painless. Free. Click here to see the latest #StorySunday tweets. Three years after the London-born Hershman launched it, #StorySunday is still going strong. To celebrate Short Story Month 2013, I decided to check in with her to learn more about the hashtag. She graciously took time from her busy schedule (which […]
“Worst of all, this is a story where we already know the ending”: Celeste Ng counts the sins and ultimate successes of Angela Carter’s story “The Fall River Axe Murders.”
Our most recent feature was Jared Yates Sexton’s debut collection An End to All Things, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: Matt Dorville (@therealmattyd) Naomi Firestone (@NaomiFirestone) Will McClure (@WillMcClure) Congrats! To claim your free copy, please email us at the following address: winners [at] fictionwritersreview.com If you’d like to be eligible for future giveaways, please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us! Thanks to all of you who are fans. We appreciate your support. Let us know your favorite new books out there!
Nick Ostdick sits down with Jared Yates Sexton to talk about his new collection, An End to All Things, as well as writing “Recession America” stories, gauging story arcs in terms of “how the plane lands,” and constructing new worlds.
Hello again, FWR friends. Welcome to the latest installment of our “First Looks” series, which highlights soon-to-be released books that have piqued my interest as a reader-who-writes. We publish “First Looks” here on the FWR blog around the 15th of each month, and as always, I’d love to hear your comments and your recommendations of forthcoming titles. Please drop me a line anytime: erika(at)fictionwritersreview(dot)com, and thanks in advance. I don’t recall when or where I first heard about Ayana Mathis’s debut novel, but it was well before Oprah anointed it as her latest book-club pick. Kirkus is describing it as a […]
Bertino talks about the stories (and drafts) behind her Iowa Award-winning debut collection, Safe As Houses, mix-tape style. Also Bob Dylan.
