In "Sun City" by Caitlin Horrocks a young woman goes through her recently deceased grandmother's belongings and tries to gain a better understanding of her grandmother in the process. What…
I want to be fair. I really do. But, "Oubliette" by David Long struck me as a narrow, pat story meant more for MFA-wielding literati, than for a broader audience. For…
If you haven't read "Starve a Rat" by Justin Torres, please do; it's wonderful. Published in the October 2011 issue of Harper's, "Starve a Rat" deftly uses first-person point of…
Published in October 3rd, 2011 issue of The New Yorker, Thomas McGuane's "The House on Sand Creek" is a well-written story that can't wait to get to the punchline. The…
Published in the September 26, 2011 issue of The New Yorker, "Dog Run Moon" by Callahan Wink is a rapid paced story that takes the reader through a night of…
As some of you are aware, this year I started work on Scintilla/Scintilla Press. It's been a work in progress. How do you start a literary magazine? How do assemble…
Ann Beattie's short story "Starlight", published in the September 19th, 2011 issue of The New Yorker imaginatively uses the last official picture of the Nixon's as the basis for a…
Yi Mun-yol's short story, "An Anonymous Island," published in the September 12, 2011 issue of The New Yorker, explores anonymity, but loses focus of that concept as the story plays out.…
Writing is about choices. That may sound simplistic, but the decisions a writer makes will change the landscape of a story. When does the story…
Published in the July 2011 issue of Harper's, "Incident in the Oriente" by Paul Theroux reads like a 19th century adventure story steeped in imperialism and the power of one man's will…