Short Story Month 2011

March was Small Press Month. April was Poetry Month. And May is Short Story Month.

I have participated in Short Story Month to varying degrees in the past, but this year I plan to commit to looking at least one story a day, most from literary magazines, but possibly also from a collection or two.

So, stay tuned. The short story comments will begin . . . tomorrow.

The New Yorker: "Deniers" by Sam Lipsyte

On the plus side, the story is available to read for free, at least for now. Get ´em while they’re hot. And the protagonist, Mandy, is pretty complex, interesting character, so I kept reading because I wanted to know what she would do. 

On the other hand, this story has feet in two worlds, as stories of recovering addicts often do, and one of those worlds—hard drug use—I simply don’t enjoy reading about. Some people do, I know, so I don’t fault the author for this. I just don’t like to go there myself.

In any case, Mandy has other issues. She is the daughter of a holocaust survivor, Jacob, who is grumpy old man who lives in a nursing home. This is where the story begins and end, which is interesting structurally, because almost immediately the story jumps back in time to Mandy’s childhood, her mother’s affair and suicide (the details of which come out through her sister, which is another interesting technique), her relationship with Greg, another drug user, and her attempts to stay clean. We also see the character of Tovah Gold, Mandy’s pretentious poet friend. For writers, at least, she provides some comic relief in an otherwise pretty dark story.

Along comes Cal, who, as it turns out, is a recovering neo-Nazi who is trying to get to know Jews as part of his process. Okay, now THAT’s interesting. Unfortunately, Mandy drinks wine with Cal, which is a slip from her own recovery.

The title of the story works on a number of levels, of course. There are holocaust deniers, of which Cal may once have been one. But there are deniers of other kinds—Greg and Mandy with their addictions, and even Jacob. All his life, Jacob has refused to talk about the war, to teach Mandy about what he went through. She doesn’t even know that the language he speaks is Yiddish until Tovah tells her. And Jacob also seems to be in denial about his wife’s death, as he asks about her (in his encroaching senility).

The ending is fun, as it returns to the “poem cycle” that Tovah is writing, and the notion that one can ride a poem cycle: “a poem cycle you could also actually ride for its aerobic benefits, and she’d pedal that fucker straight across the face of the earth until at some point she’d coast right off the edge . . .”

Not bad.


May 2, 2011: “Deniers” by Sam Lipsyte

zine-scene.com

This looks very interesting. Zine-Cine promises a calendar of online magazine releases, online reprints of stories published in print, spotlights on issues of online magazines, and more.

It looks like a nice, underserved niche. And they're looking for reviewers/essayists!

zine-scene.com

Will there be cake?

Today, April 28, is Bhikku's ninth birthday. He's not a big fan of party hats, but he'll enjoy his treats.

This past year has been a bonus for him, since he almost died in April 2010 from a gallstone that had blocked his bile duct. If he hadn't undergone emergency surgery, he wouldn't have survived. But he did, and here he is today, more or less holding still for his birthday portrait.

Happy Birthday, Bhikku!

What Editors Want; A Must-Read for Writers Submitting to Literary Magazines | The Review Review

This terrific article has been making the rounds on Facebook. I recommend it.

What Editors Want; A Must-Read for Writers Submitting to Literary Magazines | The Review Review

Book Review: A Dog Named Slugger by Leigh Brill

A Dog Named Slugger
Leigh Brill
Bell Bridge Books, 2010

I suppose I’ve always been curious about service dogs. From an early age I was aware of seeing-eye dogs, the animals that help guide the blind. They’ve been around since at least the mid-16^th Century (according to Wikipedia), but the use of service dogs by people with other disabilities is a relatively new phenomenon. No doubt because of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which ensures access to public places by people with disabilities and explicitly protects the right of access with service animals, they’ve become much more common.

So I see them from time to time, but didn’t know much about them. As a dog lover, I welcomed the opportunity to take a look at Leigh Brill’s 2010 book, A Dog Named Slugger, about her long partnership with her service dog. It’s a charming story and answered many of the questions I had about the dogs—how do they behave when they’re “off duty”; what’s proper etiquette for a stranger’s interaction with the dogs; how often do people with disabilities encounter access problems with their dogs. The book is also written in plain language that will appeal to readers of all ages.

Leigh Brill has congenital cerebral palsy. Growing up, she tried to hide her condition and was embarrassed by it. But as she grew older and became more independent—going to college, working—hiding it was no longer an option. One day she met someone on her college campus who had a service dog, and that meeting changed her life. It wasn’t long before she applied to get one of her own and that led her to Slugger, a young yellow lab who had undergone service dog training. They were a perfect match and clicked almost immediately. Slugger could do things that I can’t imagine my own lab doing (because he hasn’t been properly trained): closing doors, turning lights on and off, retrieving dropped items, barking on command to call for help, sticking close by to provide support when his partner is walking, and much more.

Over the years, Brill and Slugger worked closely together, even as their lives changed. Brill, who has a Masters degree, began working in a community mental health center and also got married. Eventually she moved to a new home and a new job in a new city. But Slugger stayed with her through it all. The two of them frequently visited schools and gave demonstrations of how they interacted and what Slugger did to help Brill deal with her limitations.

One of the messages of the books is that a service dog is a working dog, but he’s also a dog. When his work clothes come off (he wears a harness and pack for carrying things), he’s off duty and just a dog. He likes to play and fetch and do all the things that dogs normally like to do. But when the uniform goes on, he’s all business and his concentration is focused on the needs of his partner.

If you happen to be a dog lover, you’ll probably get emotional, as I did, toward the end of the book when Slugger is helping to train his successor, Kenda, and is allowed to retire. Although the moment when Brill has to say goodbye to Slugger is heart-wrenching, we know that they both lived enriched lives thanks to their partnership.

This is a very fast read, recommended for young readers and adults, especially dog lovers and those curious about what life with a service dog would be like.

The author's website is www.LeighBrill.com .

Review of In an Uncharted Country

Marjorie Hudson (Accidental Birds of the Carolinas) has some very nice things to say about my book in her mini review: In an Uncharted Country, including this: "Garstang has the gift of sharp observation of the human spirit and body and all its ways–dumb, drunk, young, wise, heartsick, brave, hopeful." 

Sunday

It's Sunday. Easter, although that's not my thing. I've been working on Prime Number stuff all morning--accepted some wonderful stories--and I'm about to turn my attention to house and yard chores, of which there are too many to list. (I'm a big fan of lists, but this one would take too long!)

Top priority is the yard. Lots to do out there, but I think the most satisfying accomplishment for the day will be getting the garden tilled. I have struggled with weeds each year I've done this garden, so I'm trying a new approach this year. I'll lay garden plastic over the dirt, and cut through it to plant. I'm also not bothering with seeds this year, unless come across something I must have. Instead, I plan to get plants from the farmer's market and go with those. Instant garden. Instant after the tilling, the laying of plastic, the digging, the mulching, the watering.

A couple of days ago I went down to the garden to inspect and move the compost around a little. The only sign of life, other than weeds, are some very healthy looking chives. When I was done, I left the gate open because . . . I'm not sure why. I guess I thought it would nice to let critters come in and eat the weeds if they wanted to. Yesterday I was walking the dog and he noticed something inside the garden fence (we were outside). He sniffed it and I discovered it was a big Eastern Box Turtle. When I went back later, it was gone. (I'd left the gate open again.)

The lawnmower broke. Again. While I was mowing. It's a 10-year-old lawn tractor, although it had major service done last year. Yesterday I suddenly noticed that it wasn't responding to the steering wheel as I was riding. I kept going straight, just so I could get a sense of the problem and then I saw it. The arm that connects the steering mechanism to the left front wheel was dangling loose. I stopped and inspected--a nut had disappeared. (I'm not all that handy, but it's not hard to compare the same setup on the right and left and figure out what's different.) So I searched my garage for a nut, found one--the largest I had--and gave it a try. It didn't quite fit. Made a trip to Lowes, but the next largest was going to be too big! So I made do with the small one, and hoped I didn't do damage to the bolt as I tightened. It's not quite still, but at least I was able to continue mowing, and could steer.

I have to make a presentation in my French class tomorrow: Je me présente. I wrote it all out but I don't think we're allowed to use note . . .

Okay, gearing up for chores.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

All you need to know about writing is contained in a brilliant blog piece by Austin Kleon: How to Steal Like an Artist (and 9 other things nobody told me).

To sum up his summing up, Write what you like. Be nice. Garbage in, garbage out.

SMALL PRESSES & LITERARY MAGAZINES CONTINUE TO INNOVATE & THRIVE By Debra Leigh Scott | New York Journal of Books

SMALL PRESSES & LITERARY MAGAZINES CONTINUE TO INNOVATE & THRIVE By Debra Leigh Scott | New York Journal of Books:

"Their offerings are not the books you find on the front tables of a Borders or Barnes & Noble. Yet these books offer some of the finest writing in the country. In fact, it has long been the case that the small press community discovers, publishes, and supports much of the finest literary talent in America. Were it not for these independent small presses, these university presses, these literary magazines, the voices of many excellent writers would never be heard."

SWAG Poetry Fest Photos

SRO crowd listens attentively to Sarah Kennedy

Shea Anthony reads from Forgotten Theatre

Sarah Kennedy reading from Home Remedies

Paul Somers reading new work

Lynn Young reading from Just a Woman

Elizabeth Solomon reading from Steering Wheel Poems

Linda Levokove reading from Walk on the Heart Side

Lorraine Rees reading from Contents Under Pressure

New Postage Rates

Since most of writers these days use online submissions almost exclusively--although there are still an awful lot of places that take only snail mail subs--it may have escaped your attention that postage rates went up on 4/17.

The main changes that affect us are the increase from 28 to 29 cents for a post card, and the increased increment (from 17cents to 20cents) for every ounce over the first one for both regular envelopes and flats. (The first ounce is still 44cents and 88cents, respectively).

New Postage Rates effective April 17

New Rates compared to Old

SWAG Writers' Poetry Fest

Last night, SWAG Writers—the Staunton, Waynesboro, Augusta Group of Writers—held its first (dare I say “first annual”?) Poetry Fest in honor of National Poetry Month. It was a huge success by any measure. Close to 50 people filled the Darjeeling Café, with a number of poetry lovers forced to stand or sit on the floor. (Pictures will be posted soon on the SWAG Writers Facebook Page.)

Darjeeling, which isn’t technically open yet—our event was private—is a wonderful spot for readings, as several of the guests remarked. SWAG would like to thank Mary Beth Morgan for opening the Café for us and we wish her well as she makes the final steps toward her public opening.

SWAG Writers was formed a year ago with a goal of raising the profile of local writers. We have hosted major readings like the Poetry Fest each quarter. We also held a panel discussion in 2010 on self-publishing, and plan to have other similar public discussions in the future. We hold a monthly happy hour on the Second Wednesdays of each month. Until this month we were doing that at the Mockingbird, but we’ve now added an open-mic component to the social gathering and we’ve shifted to Darjeeling. The next scheduled WriterDay/OpenMic is May 11, from 6-8pm.

SWAG remains informal, with no membership and no dues. We are a subgroup of the Blue Ridge Writers Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, and we encourage our participants to join Blue Ridge Writers, but for now we plan to get by on donations to cover our minor expenses.

Our Poetry Fest was put together with the help of several people. In addition to the efforts of Mary Beth Morgan and the Darjeeling Café, we had the assistance of Lindsay Curren of the Curren Media Group who designed our poster, and Karen Lawrence of Karen Lawrence Creative Services who assisted with PR. Also, Maggie Duncan arranged for our promotional pens (they're beautiful--let me know if you want one) and handled book sales last night. Thanks everyone!

At last night’s event we featured Sarah Kennedy and six other readers, and here are the bios of all the readers:

Sarah Kennedy is the author of six books of poetry, including Home Remedies, A Witch’s Dictionary, Consider the Lilies, and Double Exposure . Individual poems, essays and reviews have appeared widely in literary journals, including Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Arts & Letters, VQR, and The Southern Review. She is the co-editor of the anthology Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia, and she is a contributing editor for Pleiades and West Branch. Among her writing awards are The Strousse Award, the Paterson Prize, a Virginia Commission for the Arts grant, and a National Endowment for the Arts award. She is currently Associate Professor of English at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.

Lauvonda Lynn (Meade) Young’s poems and prose have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including: Branches in my Hand; The Blue Ridge Anthology; The Piedmont Writer; A Poem for Your Thoughts; and in her first book of poetry, Just A Woman.

Shea Anthony has published two collections of poetry, The Forgotten Theater and Riddles of Corrosion. His work has also appeared in the anthologies The Still Horizon, Under a Quick Silver Moon and Passions of the Poet.

Elizabeth Doyle Solomon has been published widely in poetry journals, newspapers, and anthologies, including Westward Quarterly, Mid-Atlantic Poetry Review, Pegasus, Poesia, Louisiana Review, Red Owl, The Lyric, Timber Creek Review, Blue Ridge Anthology, and Nomad’s Choice. Her book of illustrated nature poems, Seasons, was published by Agape Press.  The Steering Wheel Poems is Elizabeth’s second book of poems.

Lorraine Rees currently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her first book, Contents Under Pressure, was published in 2007. Her second book, Goodbye Zoo, is set for publication in the summer of 2011.

Paul Somers is a native of Norfolk, Virginia, but has lived in North Carolina, Arizona, and California. A photographer, he currently lives in Harrisonburg. His first collection of poems, Animal Insight, was published in 2010.

Linda Levokove’s poetry has been published in the Poets of the Palm Beaches, Mid-American Poetry Review, Poetry Express, Hudson Review, The Blue Ridge Anthology, Poet’s Domain, and Tonight: A World Love Anthology. Her first book of poetry, Walk on the Heart Side, was published in September 2010.

The New Yorker: "The Good Samaritan" by Thomas McGuane

I can’t say that I loved this story, but I did love some things about it. 

First, it employs a classic “stranger comes to town” catalyst, and it’s hard to go wrong with that. Szabo—we know everyone’s first name, but not the protagonist’s, which McGuane addresses in the Conversation with Deborah Treisman—is a business owner who also owns “property”—it’s not a ranch, he insists. Where I live he’d be called a Gentleman Farmer, which I think is a slightly derogatory term. Early on he slips off his beloved tractor and injures his shoulder, putting him out of commission right when the hay needs to be baled. (He grows high-quality alfalfa for local horse hobbyists.) So he hires Barney, who comes with references, to help out.

Barney works wonders on the property and also spends more time with Szabo’s mother than Szabo is happy about. He also criticizes Szabo’s relationship with his son—who is in prison—and generally interferes such that Szabo feels the need, when his shoulder is mostly healed, to fire him. But Barney’s not done causing trouble . . .

The story is behind the paywall, unfortunately, so unless you’re a subscriber you won’t know what happens. But not to worry, it’s pretty predictable.

The second thing I loved about the story is Barney, the stranger who comes to town. He’s a con man, as we guess from the beginning, but he’s a straight-talker. Szabo doesn’t really know what he’s doing with his property, but Barney does. He tells the truth to Szabo’s son, when Szabo really can’t. I like him.

I also like the way all the characters are introduced. We don’t meet them until the story needs them. First we get used to Szabo on the property, and it seems as though he is alone and isolated. But then he has his accident and wakes up in the hospital. At that point we learn about Melinda, his secretary (at the business we didn’t know about), who is calm and efficient. Then Barney shows up. Then we learn that Szabo’s mother lives an obstinately independent life nearby—first we’ve heard of her. Szabo is going on a trip—we don’t know why—but then we learn that he has a former wife, who is remarried and living in California, and the son in prison. Some of these things are details I might have been tempted to cram into the first page, even though they weren’t really needed there, and I admire McGaune’s patience.

In the end, though, the sudden crisis that arises between the father and son isn’t enough to rescue the story from the predictability of Barney’s behavior, so ultimately the story is a disappointment for me.

April 25, 2011: “The Good Samaritan” by Thomas McGuane

R.I.P. Jeanne Leiby

I didn't know Jeanne Leiby well--in fact I met her only once, at an AWP Conference--but I was very impressed with what she was doing at The Southern Review. And I was also impressed with what she had to say about her role as an editor--that was on a panel at that same conference. She seemed to me, from a distance, like a perfect literary magazine editor, and I longed to send her something that she would like. In fact, I mailed off something addressed to her this week. Her death saddens me.

Here's a tribute from someone who knew her well:

Alex V. Cook: R.I.P. Jeanne Leiby

The New Yorker: "A Withered Branch" by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

I guess I’ll give some allowances for this story, an appealing slice of a difficult life translated from the Russian, but if it were an American story I’d probably say that it doesn’t work. 

The narrator is a Russian writer in the old Soviet Union, a widow with a child in a state sanatorium with asthma. Travel is expensive, so she’s hitchhiking to Lithuania—she spends a risky night with two truckers—and finally arrives in Vilnius, where she is aided by an old woman who lets her stay with her. She delivers some stories, in Russian, to the local paper, and she later receives money for their publication, translated into Lithuanian. She listens to the old woman’s sad story—her family burned to death while she was at the market—but then she must leave because (and now we finally learn her destination) she must get to Thomas Mann’s former home on the Baltic shore and then she must hurry back to Moscow to pick up her son. Briefly at the end of the piece she compares her own life—at least she can hold her son in her arms—to that of the old woman (“a withered branch on a dead tree”).

The whole piece is contrived to have the narrator meet the old woman, who otherwise doesn’t serve the plot—because there is no plot. So, as I say, it doesn’t deliver what I like to see in a story, but I did find the interaction between the writer and the old woman to be charming. 

April 18, 2011: “A Withered Branch” by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

Issue 7 of Prime Number Magazine is now live!

Issue 7 of Prime Number Magazine is now live! This is our biggest issue yet, with 8 short stories, 2 essays, 3 book reviews, poems by 7 poets, and 4 interviews (although in one of those interviews the two writers--a married couple--interview each other).

We're also excited because 2 stories from Issue 2, "Another Little Piece" by Kevin Wilson and "The Pawn" by Scott Loring Sanders, were named Notable Stories of 2010 by storySouth's Million Writers Award, and they also named Prime Number as a runner up for Best New Magazine of the year (and we had only 2 issues in 2010, so Runner up's not bad).

The Pulitzer Prizes | What's New

The Pulitzer Prizes | What's New

You've probably already heard the news: Jennifer Egan won the Fiction Pulitzer for A Visit From the Goon Squad. I wish I could say that I've read this, although I did read the two excerpts that were in The New Yorker. I've got it, though. I'll read it soon.

It's also interesting who the two other finalists were: Jonathan Dee for The Privileges, and Chang-Rae Lee for The Surrendered. (I've got both of those, too. Haven't read them, either.)

The Pale King Review - David Foster Wallace The Pale King - Esquire

I'm prepared to accept that David Foster Wallace was a genius. I've only read short pieces by him, but I am convinced I should read Infinite Jest sooner rather than later. 


But I don't know if I'll ever read Pale King, his posthumous novel, and one reason NOT to read it is that this review in the April issue of Esquire magazine says that I should. 


I'm glad Esquire has a book review, but this one needed an editor. I don't know who Benjamin Alsup is, but surely there is an editor at the magazine who could have told him that this sentence makes no sense: "But perhaps you could care less about citizenship." What Alsup means, of course is, "But perhaps you couldn't care less about citizenship." After that, I can't take the review seriously. And since he insists I should read the Wallace book, I can't take that seriously either.

The Pale King Review - David Foster Wallace The Pale King - Esquire

10 Most Frequently Challenged Library Books of 2010 - GalleyCat

Good to see that censorship, or attempted censorship, is alive in 21st Century America:

10 Most Frequently Challenged Library Books of 2010 - GalleyCat

WriterHouse Panel on Literary Magazines

Thanks to WriterHouse for hosting the Literary Journals Demystified panel yesterday. I was there on behalf of Prime Number Magazine and joined two editors from Meridian: Editor-in-Chief Hannah Holtzman and Fiction Editor Lee Johnson. The panel was moderated by Sarah Collins Honenberger.

I've been to lots of these panels as an audience member, and they are frequently repetitive, but I really think with the help of the moderator we maybe dug a little deeper than is usually the case. We each talked about what we're looking for, what we're not looking for, and so on. One thing we didn't get a chance to talk about is mistakes that we frequently see in submissions, so I thought I'd mention a little about that here.

First, from my point of view, these aren't fatal mistakes. That is, except in egregious cases, I'll keep reading until I know that the substance of the submission isn't going to be acceptable. But there are some basics that submitters should follow when submitting prose to Prime Number (other magazines may have other foibles):

• Put your name on the manuscript. We don't read blind and I want to make sure I'm looking at the manuscript I'm supposed to be looking at. It's also useful to me, since I'm reading on a computer screen, if the wordcount is shown on the first page.
• Double space the manuscript (for prose). I frequently get submissions that are single spaced, and it's not easy to read. If it's a very short flash piece, that may not be an issue. But don't send me a 4,000 word story unless it's double spaced. I'll read the beginning of it to see if it's excellent, but I may not read further than that.
• Typos. I know that typos happen, but the more there are in a manuscript the more unimpressed I am. That's partly a function of time--I'm the one who will have to fix those typos if we accept the story, and the more there are the bigger a pain the editing process is going to be. Again, this isn't fatal for a submission, but the little things do add up.
• Usage mistakes. Writing is about language. Writers should know the language. We can manipulate grammar for effect, as long as the effect is apparent to a savvy reader, but usage is something we usually shouldn't mess with. "Alright" isn't standard; use "all right" instead--because I'll have to change it if we accept the story. Learn how to use commas, hyphens, and dashes. Learn the difference between "to lie" and "to lay". There are lots of style guides out there, but one essential guide is Strunk & White. Get it. Use it.
• Cover letters. Keep them short. Don't explain the story you're submitting. Do provide a brief bio as long as the information is relevant.
• Follow the guidelines. Ours are pretty simple. For fiction we have two submission buckets: flash, or stories under 1,000 words, and short stories, for stories between 1,000 and 4,000 words. Please submit the very short stuff in the flash bucket because sometimes I'm specifically culling the submission "pile" for short pieces. If yours is buried under the short stories, I may not find it until I'm reading the stories. Also, we ask that if you're submitting multiple pieces at one time--we'll take up to 3 flashes--put them in a single document or submission, rather than making 3 separate submissions. Responding to you 3 times instead of once takes time.

Among the ‘Unsavvy’ by John Warner - The Morning News

What actually goes on at The New Yorker?

Among the ‘Unsavvy’ by John Warner - The Morning News

(The linked article is from 2003. It would be very interesting to get an update . . .)

Spring

It sure doesn't feel like it today, but it's been spring for a couple of weeks now. This picture is of one of the wild cherry trees that grow all over the land behind my house.

I have mixed feelings about the arrival of spring. On the one hand, the flowering trees are beautiful. I have a lot of redbuds that are about to bloom and the dogwoods will come along shortly after that. And I'm happy with somewhat warmer weather (although we didn't even see 50 today).

But along with all that growth and warmth come . . . yard work. I have yet to clear the twigs and branches that fell during the winter snow and ice. I should have trimmed some of the garbage trees that have popped up along the edge of the woods and creek that runs through the yard, and I need to till the garden if I have hope of ever growing vegetables this year. (Growing weeds isn't a problem.) The weather hasn't cooperated, but maybe tomorrow.

The New Yorker: "The Goo Book" by Keith Ridgway

I think I like this story more having read the brief interview with Ridgway in which we learn that the characters of Hawthorn and Child tie the stories in Ridgway's collection together.

The point of view character is a London pickpocket who doesn’t consider what he does “crime”. And anyway, it’s just a sideline. His main occupation is as driver for Mishazzo, who is some kind of gangster, apparently, although what he does isn’t entirely clear.

The pickpocket has a girlfriend who sometimes works in a café. They don’t talk much, but they write notes to each other in a notebook that they keep in a kitchen drawer. They never look at it together and they each write in it only when they’re alone in the house. The book is important to both of them.

So life is going on like that until the guy is picked up for pickpocketing by a couple of cops, Hawthorn and Child, who have been watching him. They’ve got him cold on his thefts, but what they want is information about his boss, Mishazzo. He’s in a tough spot, so he agrees to pass information to them. Except that as he does this, he begins to worry that Mishazzo knows what he’s up to, and so he gets nervous. When the boss asks him about his girlfriend, he says her name is Mary (we don’t know either his name or the girlfriend’s) and makes up a job for her. When Hawthorn tells him he can’t help him if there’s a problem, he panics and insists that the girlfriend come with him to Spain or France, or somewhere. He’s so panicked that he thinks his place has been ransacked, even though the mess was caused by his hurried packing.

But, as he’s explaining why they’ve left, Mishazzo doesn’t seem like such a dangerous guy after all. A broker. A businessman. He hasn’t actually seen any crimes taking place.

As he’s telling her about Mishazzo, he realizes that he’s forgotten about the notebook in the kitchen drawer. He’s panicking again, but she reassures him that she has it. But the fact that he’d forgotten it stays with him.

So what’s this all about? The book, clearly, is significant. It’s how they communicate with one another, and without it, the story seems to be saying, they’d be lost. He’s devastated that he was able to leave it behind in his panic, and now he’s worried about what that says. He ran. He left it behind. But more importantly this petty crook is stuck between two lives. He’s nameless in the story, probably because he’s representative of so many young, aimless men, and he’s facing a life on the run, always leaving behind what’s important to him. He’s lucky this time, but he won’t be so lucky next time.

The title is interesting, too. What they write in the book is goo, love notes and so on. But is the book also, in a way, their Good Book, i.e., their bible? The bible of the religion of them? Which makes his near-abandonment of the book even more troublesome to him.

April 11, 2011: “The Goo Book” by Keith Ridgway

Literary Journals Thrive, on Paper and Otherwise - NYTimes.com

They don't mention Prime Number Magazine, but hey, it's thriving, too!

Literary Journals Thrive, on Paper and Otherwise - NYTimes.com

Review of Whale Man by Alan Michael Parker at The Nervous Breakdown

My review of Alan Michael Parker's Whale Man is up at The Nervous Breakdown.

The American Shakespeare Center's Renaissance Season 2011

The American Shakespeare Center’s 2011 Actors’ Renaissance Season is now history. It’s really a remarkable thing that they do: the company of actors, without directors or designers, mount five shows that run from early January to the end of March (April 3 this year). It’s a wonder. And somehow makes for theater with great energy.

This year, the repertoire consisted of just two Shakespeare plays: The Comedy of Errors and Henry VI Part 3. They also did John Marston’s The Malcontent, Thomas Middleton’s A Trick to Catch the Old One, and an anonymous play that hadn’t been performed in about 400 years, Look About You. I managed to see all the shows once and I was going to try to get to some of them a second time, but as often happens during this compressed season, time got away from me. But all five shows were wonderful.

The season began with The Comedy of Errors. This play is now somewhat familiar to playgoers at The Blackfriars, as it’s been done here at least three other times in the ten-year existence of the theater. But the gradual changes that take place in the company, and the home-stand appearance each year of the touring company, mean that each production is unique. This year one of the highlights was the pairing of Gregory Jon Phelps and Tyler Moss as Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus, respectively. Both actors have a wide range—I’ve enjoyed them both in dramatic roles—but for these parts played the comedy to the hilt.

Next was The Malcontent, which I’d not seen before. The character of Malevole (the exiled Duke of Genoa in disguise) is the memorable feature of this play, and Benjamin Curns, who has made a Blackfriars career of playing these dark connivers (like his Iago last season), made the role—Malevole is actually the good guy, which is even more fun—zing.

Look About You by Anonymous was unusual. Among other features, we get the character Robin Hood, who isn’t quite the way we remember him to be. What’s really interesting about the play, though, is that it fits into the History Cycle of Shakespeare plays. But what really makes it standout is the number of disguises the characters use. John Harrell as Skink was fantastic, shifting from one disguise to another. There’s a nice article about the play in ASC’s The Playhouse Insider

Next up was Henry VI, Part 3, this season’s contribution to the history cycle. The more I’ve seen of the history plays the better I understand them, not surprisingly. Gregory Jon Phelps was wonderful as the weak/thoughtful King Henry VI, and so were all of the House of York, especially Jeremy West as Richard, Duke of York, John Harrell as Edward, and Benjamin Curns as the vile young Richard (fitting nicely into Curns’s niche). I was also impressed with Chris Johnston as Lord Clifford, who is a merciless warrior who meets a bloody end. But the one most memorable feature here I think is Sarah Fallon as Margaret, King Henry’s wife. She just takes over when Henry shows signs of giving in to York. It’s a great part, and Fallon was all over it.

Last but not least was another play I’d never heard of, A Trick to Catch the Old One. This was a fun story about a guy in debt—Theodorus Witgood, played by Gregory Jon Phelps—who has been cheated by his uncle, Pecunius Lucre, played by John Harrell. Witgood launches a scheme involving Jane, played by Miriam Donald, to get Lucre to release Witgood’s mortgage and pay off his other debts. The joke is that Jane is a courtesan, which provides ample opportunity for bawdy humor. Donald’s performance is the stand-out for me here, but the whole production was wonderful.

It was a terrific season. I only wish I’d had time to get back to see the shows a second time. And now we start the Spring Season featuring the touring company. They’re doing Macbeth, Measure for Measure, and As You Like It, starting this Wednesday, April 6 and running through June 19.

We’re truly blessed to have this theater in our small city. 

Prime Number Magazine

Update 5.7 of Prime Number Magazine is live, with new fiction by Susanne Stahley, Lee Upton, and Christopher Lowe, and poetry by Erica Dawson, D.E. Oprava, Sally Rosen Kindred, and Barry Spacks.

Check it out! (And we're reading now for future issues, so please submit. We're looking for great flash fiction as well as longer stories (up to 4,000 words), essays, poems, reviews, interviews (query first), and short drama.

The Quivering Pen: My First Time: Clifford Garstang

I've got a new essay--it's short--at The Quivering Pen: "My First Ghost"

The Quivering Pen: My First Time: Clifford Garstang