Category Archives: reviews

the girl who fell from the sky

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, the debut novel by Heidi Durrow, is a story that will make you ache in all the best ways. Barbara Kingsolver chose it as the winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction in 2008, and it was published … Continue reading →

Posted in awards and prizes, family, first novels, reviews | Tagged | 7 Comments

summer reading

Posted on July 21, 2011 by

Summer Contrary is online with new fiction, essays, and poetry, as well as reviews of these books : Poetry: Northerners by Seth Abramson Essays: Otherwise Known as the Human Condition by Geoff Dyer and A Journey with Two Maps by Eaven Boland … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Contrary, essays, my writing, novels, poetry, reading lists, reviews, stories | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

the writing life

Posted on June 17, 2011 by

For the last couple of months at Hunger Mountain, Claire Guyton, former Art +Life editor, and I have been working together to expand that section of the journal into The Writing Life. Here’s what’s up and coming at THE WRITING LIFE: 1) … Continue reading →

Posted in art, awards and prizes, books, craft of writing, essays, life, mfa, poetry, reviews, stories, writing, writing day | Tagged | 6 Comments

reality hungry or good hungry

Posted on May 8, 2011 by

So, David Shields‘ manifesto Reality Hunger. Structure: 618 short sections grouped into 26 chapters. Subject: our hunger for the real as opposed to the invented. Shields makes some strong points and shares some controversial ideas, most of which, in the real … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Contrary, form, novels, reviews | Tagged | 10 Comments

things we think with

Posted on April 17, 2011 by

Sherry Turkle asked scientists, humanists, artists, and designers to “trace the power of objects in their lives, objects that connect them to ideas and people.” In Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, published in 2007, you’ll find thirty-four essays on objects such as … Continue reading →

Posted in accumulation, books, Contrary, details, reviews | Tagged | 9 Comments

the nbcc and powell’s

Posted on April 13, 2011 by

Excited to have my most recent review picked up by the National Book Critics Circle and Powell’s Books as the Review-a-Day for today:

Posted in Contrary, reviews | Tagged | 11 Comments

contrary blog

Posted on February 18, 2011 by

The Contrary Blog–the blog of unpopular discontent–is up and running. Click over and take a look at this new voice on the internet, the brainchild of Jeff McMahon, Contrary‘s Editor. It’s a multi-author blog, anchored by David Alm. Its focus … Continue reading →

Posted in Contrary, dialogue, journals, poetry, reviews | Tagged | 2 Comments

wrecker

Posted on February 15, 2011 by

What a great name for a little boy. And for the title of Summer Wood‘s second novel, out today from Bloomsbury [no spoilers]. Chapter One begins with these two sentences: It was the middle of the afternoon, January 1969, and … Continue reading →

Posted in novels, reviews | Tagged | 8 Comments

Winter Contrary

Posted on December 28, 2010 by

The Winter issue of Contrary is live, and there’s lots to celebrate. First, Writer’s Digest voted Contrary one of the 50 Best Online Literary Markets. Second, my story, “The Empty Armchair,” published in the Autumn 2009 issue, was one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Contrary, first novels, my writing, reviews | Tagged | 14 Comments

stiltsville

Posted on September 22, 2010 by

The new issue of Contrary Magazine is online with my review of Susanna Daniel‘s first novel, Stiltsville. Here’s the first paragraph of the review: A stilt house off the shore of Miami is a wondrous and fragile thing, built against all odds of … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Contrary, first novels, my writing, reviews, time | Tagged | 4 Comments