For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Paul Auster’s best novels balance intricate and absorbing stories, with deconstructions of the art of narrative in a manner that rarely detracts from the flow or fun of the narrative itself. Unlike the machinations of many metafiction authors, the games Auster plays with storytelling never seem to get in the way of the stories … Read more
[ad_1] I’m hardly the first writer to suffer through some unkind feedback in a workshop—and still, I’m going to talk about it. This happened to me years ago, in grad school. In the short fiction draft I was working on, which I’d brought in for feedback, a young woman recalls an almost laughable unkindness done … Read more
[ad_1] The Midwestern town of Ephrem, Illinois, is a place that exists only in author Janice Deal’s imagination. But in her beautifully woven linked story collection Strange Attractors: The Ephrem Stories, the town and its residents are so completely realized I found myself poking around Google maps, trying to determine which actual place it might … Read more
[ad_1] In July, horror fans are spoiled for choice with the publication of a relative newcomer’s homage to classic horror as well as a new offering from a veteran of the genre. Josh Winning’s Burn the Negative is clearly the work of a horror film enthusiast, with references and tropes a-plenty for slasher buffs to … Read more
[ad_1] In this heartfelt and bracing debut, Ramona Reeves renders the complex lives of the people of Mobile, Alabama, in all their pursuits and struggles. It Falls Gently All Around and Other Stories presents a memorable account of a community through the intimate lens of their relationships, addictions, longings, and fears. Reeves excellently sets the … Read more
[ad_1] The eight stories in Ling Ma’s collection Bliss Montage are linked, not only because their protagonists tend to be Chinese-American women on the brink of autonomy, or because they drift in the same sea of anomie and escapist fantasy. Rather, on a deeper level, these stories are bound by a subconscious connective tissue. Characters … Read more
[ad_1] I, for one, celebrate the influx of recent fiction shining a light on motherhood. From Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers to Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch, these works are getting more introspective and surreal in these waning pandemic days. Taking a different direction, one more rooted in reality and stark simplicity, is Chelsea Bieker’s … Read more
[ad_1] Welcome to another installment of a collaboration between the Chicago Review of Books and the Your Favorite Book podcast. Malavika Praseed, frequent CHIRB contributor and podcast host, seeks to talk to readers and writers about the books that light a fire inside them. What’s your favorite book and why? This week’s guest is Jami … Read more
[ad_1] When I turned forty, my best friend from college, Annette, and I decided to do it up big and have a girls’ weekend in New Orleans. We planned it for months. Being married with kids, this was the getaway we had earned. I was flying in from Phoenix, she was coming from Connecticut. I … Read more
[ad_1] I. It was called “Boy In The Shadows,” and it scared me, sure, but only enough to fascinate me, not enough to keep me awake at night. At eleven, I wanted to be mystified and amazed, maybe a little unsettled, but not actually terrified. The summer before, a campfire story about a blood-soaked slumber … Read more