Interview: Jenny Zhang Author of Sour Heart
The first publication from Lena Dunham’s Random House imprint Lenny, Sour Heart is a brilliant, moving portrayal of the struggles of Chinese girls coming of age in America. Lenny Booksrandomhousebooks.com Shelf Unbound: Your young girl characters struggle with their families’, particularly their mothers’, expectations that they stay tightly connected to the family and their Chinese […]
Interview: John Brandon Author of Further Joy
Quirky, inventive characters populate John Brandon’s first short story collection, from a down-on-his-luck former high school football star to a little league player obsessed with entrepreneurship. Each of the 11 stories is a winner. McSweeney’smcsweeneys.net Shelf Unbound: You’ve written three novels, and this is your first collection of short stories. What does the short story […]
Interview: Lawrence Scott Author of Leaving by Plane Swimming Back Underwater
Lawrence Scott has been short-listed for Commonwealth Writers’ prizes three times, twice nominated for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award, and long-listed for the Whitebread Prize and the Booker Prize. A memorable collection of short stories. Papillote Press papillotepress.co.uk Shelf Unbound: What’s a typical starting point for you in writing a story, for example the […]
Interview: Michael Coffey Author of The Business of Naming Things
Among these eight stories, a fan of writer (and fellow adoptee) Harold Brodkey gains an audience with him at his life’s end; two pals take a Joycean sojourn; a man in the business of naming things meets a woman who may not be what she seems; a father discovers his son is suspected in an […]
Review: Die Empty by Kirk Jones
Hard as it may be to believe, Die Empty by Kirk Jones is kind of dark. The novel centers on an insurance broker named Lance whose recent acquisition of the entire Masters of the Universe toy line has failed to brighten the onset of middle age or his sneaking and well-founded suspicion that his wife […]
Excerpt: The Western Star by Craig Johnson
I’ve been following Craig Johnson’s Western mysteries since his “Old Indian Trick” won the 2005 Tony Hillerman/PEN USA Mystery Short Story Contest sponsored and judged by Cowboys & Indians magazine back when I was an editor there. I remember being captivated by his characters, settings, and masterful storytelling. Johnson’s gone on to earn New York […]
Review: Huck Out West by Robert Coover
W.W. Norton & Co.books.wwnorton.com In the final lines of Mark Twain’s 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, our narrator-hero declares: “I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before.” We have here […]
Interview: Michael Okon Author of Monsterland
A fun, fast-paced YA read chock full of zombies, werewolves, vampires—and a crew of misfit kids. WordFire Presswordfirepress.com Shelf Unbound: Monsterland is an amusement park featuring real vampires, zombies, and werewolves. How did you get the idea for Monsterland? Michael Okon: I was binge watching a movie marathon with my son, the classics—Goonies, Gremlins, Back […]
Interview: Titus Plomaritis Author of Titus
Titus: Immigrant Son, Football Legend, Presidential Confidant, Highly Honored Chiropractor The Life of Dr. Titus Plomaritis Titus Pomaritis is a 5’5” powerhouse of a human being—and his inspiring memoir covers everything from his early days delivering chickens to a small grocer, to his still-talked-about high school football career, to his romance and long marriage. Through […]
Interview: Matt Ingwalson Author of Sin Walks Into the Desert
El Viejo saved Sin’s life back when the boy was a 12-year-old punk hellbent on shooting up the school bus with his daddy’s .357. And now the old man’s gone missing. So Sin straps on his guns, grabs his go-bag, and hikes into the desert to find him, only to uncover a nest of killers […]