Tag Archives: fiction

A Thanksgiving Story

Posted on 11/28/2009 by chris

A Thanksgiving Story There was this kid in high school named Carlos, a year younger than me, a little pudgy and a little foul-mouthed sometimes and not really a close friend except the way everyone of approximately the same age … Continue reading →

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The Fine Fifteen: Novels

Posted on 10/4/2009 by chris

[cc image by Caro’s Lines] Slightly modified from a meme I was “tagged” for: take 15 minutes (no more!) to list, in no particular order, 15 books (in this case novels) that have most intensely “stuck with you.” No Googling, … Continue reading →

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Reading log: Flash Fiction Forward (ed James Thomas & Robert Shapard)

Posted on 8/2/2009 by chris

The stories in Flash Fiction Forward can generally be divided into a few basic categories: miniaturized conventional stories absurdist stories along the lines of James Tate or Russell Edson’s prose poems (the former is represented here) extended prose poems clever … Continue reading →

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Reading Log: Ficciones (Jorge Luis Borges)

Posted on 7/30/2009 by chris

I can’t say enough about this collection. Borges was a master at weaving compelling, Escher-like verbal tapestries with threads of obsessions I’ve grown to share in: time, memory, eternity, infinity, fiction and evocation and vocation… the least of these stories … Continue reading →

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Booklog: The Tears of Autumn (Charles McCarry)

Posted on 4/9/2009 by chris

It turns out Charles McCarry was one of the best spy novelists I’d never heard of. After too many recommendations from those in the know, I finally picked up the earliest locally available example of his work– The Tears of … Continue reading →

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on The Difficulty of Writing (Marilynne Robinson)

Posted on 3/10/2009 by chris

The difficulty of it [writing] cannot be overstated. But at its best, it involves a state of concentration that is a satisfying experience, no matter how difficult or frustrating. The sense of being focused like that is a marvelous feeling. … Continue reading →

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from Candide (Voltaire)

Posted on 3/8/2009 by chris

Pangloss was professor of metaphysico-theologico-cosmolo-nigology. He proved admirably that there is no effect without a cause, and that, in this best of all possible worlds, the Baron’s castle was the most magnificent of castles, and his lady the best of … Continue reading →

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View from the Seventh Layer (Kevin Brockmeier)

Posted on 5/20/2008 by chris

[isbn: 0375425306] Referring to stories as ‘clever’ is often shorthand for "interesting but ultimately shallow," while ‘inventive’ often means "very creative, but not a great piece of art." In both cases the admirable qualities are undercut by a lack of … Continue reading →

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Good People (David Foster Wallace)

Posted on 1/29/2007 by chris

David Foster Wallace has a new story in the New Yorker…

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Reading Proust – 1

Posted on 7/17/2006 by chris

A week or so ago I signed up as a member of a small group of bloggers reading Proust. Since then I have been making my very slow way through Swann’s Way (yep, the $8.95 cheap-ass bastard edition– after spot-comparing … Continue reading →

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Death of the Short Story (not)

Posted on 6/28/2006 by chris

Eric Rosenfield thinks the short story is dead and then points to a dissection of the Best American Short Stories as proof!? BAS hasn’t been representative of the most vital aspects of the short story for decades (if ever). It, … Continue reading →

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