Gray Baby by Scott Loring Sanders

Another friend has a novel coming out this week: Gray Baby by Scott Loring Sanders will be released tomorrow.

100 Best Novels

A game. A diversion. As if you (I) didn't have enough distractions.
Can you name the 100 best novels according to Modern Library (1900-1998)?

(And, for more time wasters, visit Sporcle.com.)

Residency Report--halfway point

My residency is half over, which is odd because it feels as though I just got here. Apart from the appearance of poison ivy (I had a serious run-in with a nasty weed patch right before I left home), things are going reasonably well. I'm making progress, I think, and that's better than going backwards. I'm only working on my main project, though, and not any of the secondary projects I thought I might do. That's just as well, I suppose.

Yesterday, I worked most of the day except for a mid-day excursion to buy calamine lotion (!), coffee, and to stop at Tacos el Pueblito (that's the little pink Mexican restaurant near the Kimmel Harding Nelson building) to grab a burrito for lunch. In the evening, all the remaining residents (our composer went home yesterday) went to see Up, the new Pixar movie featuring the voice of Ed Asner. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie in a theater; too bad it was this one. Not that it's a bad movie--it's good for what it is, and visually it's quite nice--but there are other films that I'd like to see more.

The New Yorker: "Love Affair with Secondaries" by Craig Raine

I tell writing students that stories about adultery and stories about cancer are tired and done to death, and that stories about adultery AND cancer are no better. A story about either of these subjects or both should actually be about something else; the adultery and cancer should be backgrounded. Otherwise—boring. We’ve seen it. A million times.

I thought, at first, that this story was going to be about something else. It seemed to have a message about truth and then it seemed to be about consequences, but then it seemed to be about lies and no consequences, and finally it just seemed to be about adultery and the excuses we make for it.

The story is this: Piotr is having an affair partly because he thinks he’s dying. His wife, who has had an affair, finds out. The family holds an intervention, but it turns out that Piotr’s older brother has had an affair with the same woman. We’re all just mayflies, etc.

I think I’ve been giving my writing students good advice.

June 1, 2009: "Love Affair with Secondaries by Craig Raine

Interview with Elizabeth Strout

Check out Tom Ashbrook's interview with Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Olive Kitteridge.







H/T Kat!

Residency Report

For the last several days I've been in residence at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska. I arrived here Monday afternoon and began work Tuesday morning. The center is at full capacity with five artists--three visual artists, a composer, and me--but there is plenty of space, so it doesn't feel crowded. I'm sharing one of the apartments with one of the visual artists and last night we had the other three residents up for a gathering. Tonight all five of us went out to dinner. It's a good group.

Nebraska City, where the center is located, is a quiet town. Which is a good thing. I've managed to get a fair amount of work done so far; I hope that keeps up. I'd love to finish a draft of this manuscript before I go home!

Laura Brodie's The Widow's Season

My friend, Washington & Lee University professor Laura Brodie, has a novel coming out next week from Berkley Books. Although I've not read this book, I have read some of Laura's stories and I'm sure this is terrific. Congratulations, Laura!

Munro Wins Man Booker International Prize

Canadian short story writer Alice Munro has won the 2009 Man Booker International Prize.

New Issue: Right Hand Pointing #26

Check out the new issue of Right Hand Pointing, which looks like another good one.

Off to Kimmel Harding Nelson

I'm very excited to be preparing for a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. During my two weeks there, I hope to make substantial progress on my novel, and maybe also work on a few poems and stories that have been neglected.

Residencies have been very productive for me in the past, but this will be my first time at KHN and I don't know what to expect. It's small--I think there will be just four other artists there, three visual artists and a composer. I'm looking forward to getting there and settling in.

Blu Debut

Last night at the wonderful Darjeeling Cafe was the launch party for Blu Magazine, the new Arts and Culture magazine "serving Staunton, Harrisonburg, Augusta & Rockingham Counties." It was a fun time, with good music, food, and drinks. The highlight, of course, was the unveiling of the inaugural issue, which includes articles about Mockingbird, the new music venue in town, three local restaurants, the Blackfriars Playhouse (and the American Shakespeare Center), and much more.

It looks like a terrific magazine, and I'm not saying that just because I wrote one of the articles. Look for this FREE magazine all over the area

The New Yorker: "Ava's Apartment" by Jonathan Lethem

Although it isn’t labeled a short story--The New Yorker doesn’t seem to do that--neither is this “fiction” by Jonathan Lethem labeled a novel excerpt, which it surely is. (The Contributor note for Lethem tells us that his novel Chronic City will be published in October.) I was enjoying the read, more or less, until I noticed that story-wise it wasn’t going anywhere; a check on that Contributor note confirmed my suspicion, and the lack of an ending left no doubt whatsoever. So, we’ve got another novel excerpt instead of a story, and as much as I liked Lethem’s novel Motherless Brooklyn and another story of his I’ve seen in TNY, this one gets a non-response from me. The sentences seem fine. Good, even. The protagonist--if this main character serves that function in the novel, as I would guess--has a funky name (Perkus Tooth), but I don’t think I’m interested enough by this to pay for the book, or read it, when it comes out.

The fiction begins with Tooth, a “wall-eyed former rock critic,” who isn’t well (there's been some kind of party) and is forced by a devastating snowstorm to abandon his home and find other shelter. Which he does, quite readily--in an apartment building for dogs. Thinking he no longer wishes human companionship, he becomes the roommate of a three-legged pit bull named Ava, who, loving him unconditionally, teaches him something about humanity.

Really? Whatever. I liked the dog.

May 25, 2009: “Ava’s Apartment” by Jonathan Lethem

Subscribe on your Kindle

I find this amusing. You can now subscribe to Perpetual Folly on Kindle. For a small fee. And if you're already subscribing, you'll see this notice about subscribing.

Writers.com

I'm currently teaching an online course called "Writing the Literary Short Story" on a terrific site: Writers.com. The participants have varying degrees of writing experience, but we're having engaging discussions on topics such as plot, character, setting, dialogue, beginnings, time, endings, and other subjects. We've also been reading and discussing some great published stories (available online so there's no textbook to buy), doing writing exercises, and critiquing stories by participants. It's been a great class.

If this is something you might be interested in, the same course will be repeated beginning in July. And later in the year I'll be running an advanced Literary Short Story Workshop as well as a separate course on Publishing the Literary Short Story, which I think will attract some interest. Contact Writers.com for enrollment information.

Flash Fiction Chronicles

Flash Fiction Chronicles today features tips (from several writers, including me) on overcoming writers' block: Unblock Some More, Please.

"Whose Woods These Are"

I recently linked to Ted Genoways's manifesto in support of university presses and journals which was written specifically in response to pressure on The Southern Review.

Genoways has more to say now: Whose Woods These Are. This time the beneficiary of his remarks is the New England Review which finds itself under similar pressures.

Guest Blogger: Jessica Handler

Hi, this is Jessica Handler guest-blogging for Cliff. (Thanks, Cliff!). Since my book, Invisible Sisters: A Memoir has been out just over a month, Cliff’s asked me to lend some insight and tips about promoting a book in those first weeks.

I made a list (I like lists.)

1. Congratulate yourself! You’re a new author, and all that hard work you’ve done has really become a book. Hooray!

2. If your publisher has assigned a publicist to work with you, make his or her job easier by approaching your book’s publicity as teamwork. (And know that a good publicist is worth their weight in gold!)

3. If you’re on your own, these tips still apply.

4. When publicity for the book begins, the publicist may ask for your ideas about newspapers, magazines, tv, radio and Web opportunities, or to take a look at his/her media list and add ideas. You may want to suggest bookstores you patronize, too. Go through all your contacts and figure out who you know. Now is not the time to be shy. People want to help get the word out. They’re excited for you (and you’ll do the same for them, right?)

5. Your ARCs – advance readers’ copies – will be sent several months in advance of release to “long-lead” press –(magazines, etc. that go into production months before their newsstand date.) The ARCs may also go to reviewers, including readers’ sites like LibraryThing or Goodreads. Build an author profile on these sites so people can contact you.

6. Blog regularly. Build an events calendar into your blog. Let readers know you’ll visit their book clubs. Can’t travel far? How about conference calls? Don’t have a blog? Get one for free. Use social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace, too.

7. Ah, travel (see #6, above.) Your publisher might foot the bill for some of it. (See #1, “hooray.”) You’re probably on your own for all or most of this one, though. Start a) couch surfing b) investing in new tires and a check-up for your car c) using airline miles, if you have them d) spending a little cash e) couch surfing some more.

7a) Think regional. Take a look at the “Bookstores” feature on Publisher’s Marketplace and map out what bookstores are close to places you’ll be. Going to your cousin’s wedding in Houston? Call bookstores in the area several weeks before you go. Tell them you’ll be in town. Let your book’s publicist know (see #2)- maybe they can set up a reading there.

7b) Let the publicist know about book festivals near you that he or she may not be familiar with. If you’re submitting applications on your own, make sure you know the deadlines – they can be six months or more ahead of the festival date.

8. Sign stock! Carry a nice pen or two with you all the time (and carry a copy of your book, too.) Drop into bookstores and introduce yourself to the manager. Let them know you’re an author, and ask if they carry your book. (You can find out in advance by calling or checking their website.) Offer to sign stock. This means your book will get that “signed by author” sticker, and will probably get moved from the shelf to a featured spot like the front table or by the register.

8a) You’ve just spent quality time with booksellers, and they’re the folks who hand-sell your book and talk it up. Thank them! Go to the bookstore’s café and buy yourself some sustenance. Or buy a book.

9) Got readings? Practice! Select material that will appeal to your particular audience (funny? Sad? Local? Topical?) Read your choices aloud to yourself, your spouse, and your dog. Break that “no writing in books rule” and mark your reading copy up! I underline words I want to emphasize, and indicate full stops. Make eye contact with your audience. Select about 20 minutes worth of material, and change it up from time to time. You’ll get bored if you read the same stuff. Paper clips or tape flags are good page markers.

10) People love to ask questions, but nobody wants to go first. Bring a friend and make them ask that first question. Or select a kind stranger for that job. Or tag the bookstore owner.

11) Got interviews? Know the salient points in your book. If there are facts, have one or two at hand. Get comfy with anecdotes. Use the show’s online archive feature or the recent issues of a publication to familiarize yourself with their format.


Give yourself some down time, and enjoy it! Take time off from checking your Amazon rankings or Google Alerts.

For more tips, check out the very creative squad365.blogspot.com, or a good guide like “Publicize Your Book” by Jacqueline Deval.

The Subversive Copy Editor by Carol Fisher Saller

The Subversive Copy Editor
Carol Fisher Saller
The University of Chicago Press $13.00

I’m not sure I would have been aware of this terrific little book but for the fact that the author is a friend of mine from a long time ago with whom I recently reconnected. Carol Fisher Saller is the editor of the Q&A page at The Chicago Manual of Style Online, and has put years of experience as a copy editor into this gem.

Although the book is being pitched primarily to copy editors, I believe writers will also get a lot out of it. In fact, one chapter of the book is addressed to writers, and that’s filled with good advice about dealing with publishers and editors, but the reality is that these days we writers often are our own copy editors, and so we should understand better what it is that copy editors do.

What I found most interesting in the book was that in some areas--for example, where style is involved, as opposed to grammar--editors at Chicago have some flexibility. It may be that other publishers using other style guides don’t have the same latitude, but I find the approach refreshing. (My freshman composition students would probably be surprised to hear this about flexibility, but that’s only because they weren’t listening to me when I talked about "style.") One example that Saller gives I found especially welcome because of the amount of time I spend in class harping on it, and how often I see the mistake made in student writing. She describes various changes in the CMoS over the years, including one where they changed back to the original: “In [an earlier edition], in a matter where style intrudes upon grammar, we flirted shamelessly with using ‘their’ as a nonsexist pronoun in singular contexts. (We aren’t proud of that little indiscretion. Even then, we relegated it to a footnote in small type.)” In other words, even for the flexible University of Chicago Press, “their” is plural. Period. Good for them.

The book is filled with genuine advice for those involved in copyediting, and yet it is very funny in places. Entertainment is not its sole purpose, but it does educate with humor. (Unlike the best-selling Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which was appealing because it was very funny, but only minimally informative.)

This sampling of chapter titles gives a sense of what to expect: “When Things Get Tough: The Difficult Author”; “Dear Writers: A Chapter of Your Own”; “Know Thy Word Processor”; and “The Zen of Copyediting.”

It’s a very readable book, and worth a writer’s time.

Blu is coming

Hamlet v. Hamlet v. Hamlet

Is this cool, or what? You know there are three versions of Hamlet, right? There's the First Folio and the First and Second Quarto versions. I've seen all three versions at the American Shakespeare Center here, and today their website directed me to a site created by an ASC intern that compares the Three Texts of Hamlet. That should be fun to explore.

New Issue: Blackbird Spring 2009

The new issue of Blackbird is up, with fiction by Christine Schutt and Michael Croley, among others, poetry by Julie Funderburk and Wyatt Prunty, among others. (These are just some of the folks in this issue with Sewanee Writers Conference connections; there's also a review by Sandra Beasley, and reviews of Sewanee alums Jennifer Chang, Aaron Baker, Dan Albergotti, and Lynn Chandhok. (Mary Flinn, Blackbird Editor, goes to Sewanee each year; I'm sure I missed some names here with Sewanee connections, for which I apologize.)

New Issue: Bound Off

Bound Off #40 is now live with "Check Engine Light" by Mel Bosworth and "A Documentary About Sharks" by Gavin Broom.

The New Yorker: "In the South" by Salman Rushdie

This is a terrific story, possibly my favorite of the year so far. Senior and Junior are two old men with the same name who have come to the same place by taking very different routes. Junior is alone in the world, but Senior is crowded by his second wife and her family as well as hundreds of family members of his own. The groundwork that Rushdie lays is beautiful and intricate.

“Neither man slept well anymore. At night they lay on hard beds without pillows and, behind their closed eyelids, their unsettled thoughts ran in opposite directions. Of the two men, V. Senior had lived by far the fuller life.”

And so it is no surprise that Senior is the one who is ready to pack it in. It is the end of the year and the New Year approaches. He tells Junior that either he will die in the next five days . . . or “else a year will begin in which my end will surely come.” Junior scoffs. And in fact Senior does not die.

Without giving too much of the story away, what happens is that the devastaing Christmas Tsunami that crippled so much of Indonesia, Thailand and South India strikes. Senior survives but is left to wonder, “Why not me?”

It’s a powerful story that I look forward to reading again.

May 18, 2009: “In the South” by Salman Rushdie

Recommended Reading

No, I'm not going to tell you what to read, at least not today. Recommended Reading is the name of a new blog that will be asking writers about their reading. It seems like a fine idea. First up is Kevin Wilson, whom you've heard of if you've been paying attention to me.

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award

The long list for the prestigious Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award has been announced, and Tania Hershman (whos book is on the list!) has the scoop and a list of nominees at The Short Review.

White House Poetry Slam

Saw this on Galley Cat just now: Michael Chabon in White House Slam. At first, I thought Chabon was being critical of Obama ("White House slam"), but, no, that's not it all. It takes place tonight, and sounds great.

"The Future of University Presses and Journals"

Ted Genoways raises important issues in this VQR Blog Post: The Future of University Presses and Journals. Of course, the debate is not a new one, nor will it ever go away, but I'm glad it's being discussed.

Genoways's comments are prompted by remarks of the new chancellor of Louisiana State University about protecting the university's "academic core" even at the expense of such important and influential bodies as the Southern Review and LSU Press. What is the core, we have to ask, if these are not part of it? Genoways explores other examples of journals that have been or still are under the same pressure (and is appropriately grateful that his is not one of them).

It's a good discussion, worth reading and pondering.

Five Star Literary Stories

My review of E.C. Osondu's "Waiting" (Guernica) is up at Five Star Literary Stories. Happy Short Story Month!

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth
by Kevin Wilson
Ecco 2009 $13.99

I was curious about the cover of Kevin Wilson's collection of short stories, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth. It shows the pieces of a model car, and I wondered what that had to do with tunneling. But then I read the story "Go, Fight, Win" and it all became clear.

This is a terrific collection, filled with Wilson's dry wit and twisted sensibilities. Just kidding about the "twisted" thing, but there are some pretty odd characters here: the woman who works as a stand-in grandmother, the recent graduate who lives underground, the guy who calculates worst-case scenarios. There are eleven stories here, not counting the "P.S." section that includes Kevin's story about how he became a writer, and an interview that's also pretty funny.

One of my favorites is "The Museum of Whatnot" about a woman who leaves her novelist boyfriend and becomes a museum dedicated to junk. Er, collectibles. Given that she dreads ownership of things herself--she makes exceptions if something can be useful--her job is ironic. And she herself may be on her way to becoming a collector because near the end of the story, when the elderly doctor who has been flirting with her gives her a gift of a barrette, it turns out that she has others.

The opening story, "Grand Stand-in," is another favorite. The narrator is employed as a stand-in grandmother, and it occurs to me that it could make a reality TV show. For various reasons, parents hire her to be the grandmother that their children need. Sometimes it's because the actual grandmother has recently died, and occasionally, as in the central incident in the story, there are other reasons.

But all the stories in this collection are rewarding. Expect to hear more from Kevin Wilson.

Recent Acquisitions: The New Valley by Josh Weil

This book was not supposed to be out until June, but it arrived early, for reasons I can't explain. The author, Josh Weil, is another Sewanee Writers Conference friend. And I'm really looking forward to reading this book, which is a trio of novellas set in Virginia.

The New Yorker: "The Autobiography of J.G.B." by J.G. Ballard

More allegory? I have not read much J.G. Ballard, who died last month, so I don’t know how typical this is for him. Perhaps someone more familiar with his work can enlighten us?

In this story, J.G.B. wakes up one morning finds that the mail and newspapers have not been delivered, the power is off. He is annoyed by this and goes to see his neighbor, but the neighbor’s house is empty. Eventually it appears that the world is empty—no people, no dogs, no traffic, no airplanes. Nothing. His transistor radio works, but he only picks up static, including from European stations. He drives into London—nothing. He finds a motorboat, zooms over to France and finds Calais equally empty. In the meantime, though, he has been to the London zoo and found that the birds are still in their cages, and he frees them. In the end, surviving on canned food, he manages to forget all the people and lives alone, visited by the birds. The key is in the last line: “Thus the year ended peacefully, and B was ready to begin his true work.”

Two possibilities occur to me, both sparked by the title of the story. One is that this is the autobiography of a writer, any writer, or indeed of any artist. That before one’s true work can emerge, one must eliminate the distractions of the world—save, perhaps, for the birds, which are traditional symbols of freedom, doubly so here because B has released them from their cages.

Given Ballard’s recent death, though, and remembering the poems of Updike that The New Yorker published after his death, I wonder if this little story isn’t [also] about death. Perhaps the author is speculating that this is what death is like—the absence of everyone you know. In death, one begins one’s true work: to decompose, visited only by the birds.

May 11, 2009: “The Autobiography of J.G.B.” by J.G. Ballard

Marc Fitten's Indie 100

Lots of authors go on book tours, although there is much discussion about how effective touring is. Marc Fitten has started his tour in support of his new novel, Valeria's Last Stand, but he's "spicing things up" by visiting 100 independent bookstores and blogging about the experience, which he's doing at Marc Fitten's Indie 100. Seems like a great idea to me.

Top 50 [Very] Short Fiction

Check out Wigleaf's Top 50 [Very] Short Fiction 2009 which just went up. The pieces chosen are all flashes from the web.

American Shakespeare Center’s Spring Season

Murder. Revenge. Gambling. Belly Dancers. The spring season of the American Shakespeare Center at Staunton’s Blackfriars Playhouse has something for everyone.

First, there is The Comedy of Errors, a romp of mistaken identity in duplicate. Josh Carpenter is Antipholus of Syracuse and Luke Eddy is Antipholus of Ephesus, twins separated as infants, each accompanied by his servant, similarly separated twins named Dromio, played by Rick Blunt and Dennis Henry. These four are superb as they tumble in confusion around the bombastic Adriana, wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, who owes her commanding presence to the talents of Ginna Hoben. Also delivering fine performances are Brandi Rhome, graceful as Adriana’s sweeter sister, Luciana; Daniel Kennedy as both the Duke and Dr. Pinch; and Kelley McKinnon, doing triple duty as the kitchen maid, the belly-dancing courtesan, and the abbess who is, in reality, the long-lost mother of the Antipholuses.

It’s light-hearted fluff and, as performed by this talented cast, enormously entertaining. If there is a flaw here it is at least partly the playwright’s fault for beginning with a long expository speech by Egeon, father of the Antipholuses, into which Jonathan Reis is unable to breathe much life. The exposition must have been deemed necessary to explain to audiences what was going on, but it slows the opening considerably.

Next, there is one of the greatest plays ever written, Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This masterpiece is, unquestionably, a tragedy of revenge. But it is also a fascinating psychological portrait of a young man who longs for certainty—does the ghost speak the truth about his father’s murder?—and knows that the only real certainty is man’s inescapable death and decomposition.

Luke Eddy, as Hamlet, is outstanding. From his initial confrontation with the ghost, to his feigned madness, to his contemplation of Yorick’s skull and the ravages of decay, to his moving apology to the grieving Laertes, Eddy’s portrayal of the tormented prince is magnetic. Watch his steely eyes as he confounds the pompous Polonius, wittily portrayed by Dennis Henry, and toys with the bumbling Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, played by Rick Blunt and Ginna Hoben. Especially compelling are Eddy’s encounters with Brandi Rhome, who instills the character of Ophelia with a regal charm that devolves gradually and convincingly into genuine insanity. Josh Carpenter is an excellent Laertes, devoted to his sister Ophelia while he lovingly mocks their father, Polonius. Carpenter shines in the climactic and deadly confrontation with Hamlet. Other standouts are Aidan O’Reilly as Horatio, Kelley McKinnon as Gertrude, and Daniel Kennedy as the Player King.

The final entrant in ASC’s spring rotating repertory is the modern Hamlet spinoff, Tom Stoppard’s brilliant Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Set against the same backdrop as Hamlet and featuring many of the same characters—one of the joys of seeing ASC do this play and Hamlet together is the casting of the same actors in the same parts in both shows—Stoppard is exploring very different territory. Whereas Prince Hamlet struggles to decide on a course of action to avenge his father’s murder, his old friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have no such choice. They are in the hands of fate and at the mercy of its winds. As Guildenstern admits under Hamlet’s questioning, they were sent for, but that’s all they know about the past or how they came to their present state.

The palpable chemistry between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, played, as in Hamlet, by Rick Blunt and Ginna Hoben, is evident from the opening sequence. They are on the road, uncertain as to why, and entertain themselves by flipping coins. The surprising outcome of the coin toss raises questions of chance and probability that the travelers are ill equipped to answer. Blunt plays Rosencrantz with masterful buffoonery and comic timing, and Hoben’s blustery and didactic Guildenstern is equally appealing.

The tragedians they meet on the road, led by Daniel Kennedy as The Player, fulfill an even more prominent role here than they do in Hamlet. Kennedy is excellent in his reprise of the part, and there is a terrific performance by Josh Carpenter as Alfred, a member of the troupe who takes on female roles and, or so it is implied, may offer other services to help the actors make ends meet. Carpenter—reluctant one instant, eager the next—is hilarious. We also have Eddy again as revenge-minded Hamlet, Rhome as tragic Ophelia, and Henry as pedantic Polonious, all facilitating Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s voyage of destiny.

As is the custom at the Blackfriars Playhouse, following Shakespeare’s original staging practices, sets for these plays are non-existent. The costumes, however, are marvelous. Jenny McNee’s designs for The Comedy of Errors are colorful and elaborately evocative of the Ionian setting, and Erin West’s for both Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead richly suit the members of the Danish court. Especially fitting are the ghostly white garments for the spirit in Hamlet and for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Stoppard’s play.

All three shows run through mid June at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton and should not be missed.

The Subversive Copy Editor

Publisher's Weekly calls The Subversive Copy Editor the "best copy editor's companion since the [Chicago Manual of Style]" in their Web Exclusive Review for this week. The book is by Carol Fisher Saller, a friend of mine from way back. I've only just started to read it, but so far it deserves the praise it's been getting.

Andrew's Book Club May Picks

Okay, I have to confess that I'm still reading the April picks, but here comes Andrew, right on time, with May picks for Andrew's Book Club. In the Indie corner we have Robert Boswell's The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards, and representing University Presses we have American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell. (No big press book this month? I'm okay with that. There's only so much I can buy/read.)

The IPPYs

Indpendent Publisher Online Magazine awards the IPPYs each year, awards for the best books from the independent presses. Awards are offered in a lot of categories--a good thing--and so there will be lots of winners. As I understand it, there are also silver and bronze medals awarded in some cases. In the fiction categories I see some familiar names: David McGlynn, Allison Amend, and Steven Gillis. Congratulations, and Good Luck!

Pinckney Benedict in Image Journal

Image Journal profiles Pinckney Benedict, and prints his story, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, also forthcoming in New Stories from the South.

Buy Indie

Today is International Buy Indie Day, on which we are encouraged to buy a book (or two) from an Independent Bookstore. If you don't know where your local Independent is, here's a handy storefinder.

The New Yorker: "The Slows" by Gail Hareven

Kicking off Short Story Month!

It takes a little while to figure out what’s going on here because the narrative voice sounds normal and the references are unknown by familiar—The Preserves could be a forest preserve, for example, and so as a place name it doesn’t raise much of a question. In the second paragraph the narrator reveals he studies “the Slows” and it isn’t clear yet what this is. But soon we come to know that it is a group of savage humans, and for a time the reader might suspect that the narrator is not human.

But we learn that the Slows are confined to reservations, isolated from the rest of the population, and that this narrator is an anthropologist who studies them. He has learned that the government has decided to close the Preserves, and so his work will end, but there is also the question of what will happen to the Slows. The woman has brought her child—the larva, he calls it—and the situation becomes clearer. Society has developed Accelerated Offspring Growth, a treatment for infants that brings them rapidly to maturity. Its purpose was to help populate colonies on other planets, but was also implemented on earth. The Slows, however, insisted on keeping the old ways, and are afraid that the Accelerateds will take the larva and give them the treatment. The narrator has some sympathy for the woman’s plight, but he is disgusted by her (the breast feeding!) and in the end easily turns her in.

A bit of allegory is it? The problem with allegory often is that you can make it mean whatever you want it to. So, I pick a political interpretation. Obviously, the Slows are the Conservatives/Republicans. They think they are preserving the old ways, but they are really just standing in the way of progress. And the Accelerateds are Progressives/Democrats, who are on the verge of eliminating the last of the Slows. Total domination. (There is that nagging bit bout an outbreak of Slow behavior in the colonies, but maybe that’s just the suggestion that backwardness, like polio, cannot truly be eradicated.) Or something. (Of course the author isn't American, she's Israeli, and so I'm almost certainly wrong. So then, what's it about?)

May 4, 2009: “The Slows” by Gail Hareven