Emerging Writers Network

What I'm Looking Forward to in 2008

As 2007 winds down, and I look forward to recapping the year that was in EWN-land, I find myself getting excited about the books that I know will be published in 2008, and damn there are plenty of them.  This is just those that I know of.  And it doesn't count the books coming from Dzanc, OV Books or Black Lawrence that you KNOW I'll be reading, and hyping and pushing.

January

Future Tense Press has a two story chapbook from future Dzanc Books author, Suzanne Burns, entitled DoubleHeader.  I've liked all of Kevin Sampsell's selections for chapbooks so far, and knowing how much I'm looking forward to publishing Burns' work in 2009, I'm anxious to see this one in print.

Rose Metal Press is publishing a set of chapbooks of short short stories from four women - and as I'm a huge fan of three of them:  Elizabeth Ellen, Claudia Smith and Kathy Fish, I'm planning on reading all four.

Counterpoint has the next Lydia Millet novel, How the Dead Dream, coming out.  I hope to make this the year I finally catch up on her work as the bit I've read was great, and if Richard Nash is plugging it as hard as he is, it must be all that.

Europa Editions has Carmin Abate's Between Two Seas being translated from the Italian by Anthony Shugaar.  This novel is set just after World War II and looks like just one more winner from Europa.

Random House has a pair that look interesting - two novels - The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Raverte, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peder, and Charles Bock's Beautiful Children.  Both are getting plenty of early publicity from the folks at Random House and quick scans of the first few pages look promising indeed.

Livingston Press has their annual story anthology, Tartts Three, with stories from EWN'ers such as Xujun Eberlein, Jacob M. Appel, and Bonnie Roop Bowles.  I typically find myself liking fiction that editor Joe Taylor publishes.  I'm also looking forward, I believe later in the year, to the full collection Livingston will publish from Xujun Eberlein.

Lastly in January, the long awaited novel from Karl Iagnemma, The Expeditions, from Dial Press.  I loved his story collection from a few years back and was excited to hear that this was on the way.

February

The Monsters of Templeton, from Lauren Groff, is the first Hypeion title of 2008 I'll be reading.  Having loved a few of Groff's short stories last year in Hobart and the Atlantic Fiction Issue, she's another one I've been waiting to see a full book from.

Casperian will publish Without Wax by William Walsh.  This is deemed a documentary novel on the cover, looking at the life of fictional porn star, William Waxxx.

Tyrants, a short story collection from Marshall Klimasewiski will be published by Norton.  Much as I enjoyed his novel, The Cottagers, I'm looking forward to these smaller woks.

Another short story collection to be published in February will be Elizabeth Crane's third effort, You Must Be This Happy to Enter, from Akashic Books.  Having thoroughly enjoyed Crane's first two collections, and knowing the Zombie story she read recently in Chicago is in this collection, it's pretty certain I'm going to love this one!

Samantha Hunt's latest novel, The Invention of Everything Else, from Houghtin Mifflin also looks interesting.  A quick search of the subjects listed at Powells for this novel are:  literary, inventors, electric engineers - what could be more interesting than that?

Felicia C. Sullivan's memoir, The Sky Isn't Visible From Here, will be published by Algonquin and as I've already read and raved about it, you should all just go find a copy as soon as it's available.

Coffee House Press has a story collection, Night Train, from Lise Erdich coming that I've skimmed and enjoyed the few stories and look forward to finishing it up.

Another I've already raved about, Terese Svoboda's award winning non-fiction from Graywolf, Black Glasses Like Clark Kent, is just one to look for and enjoy.

March

Doubleday will publish the debut story collection, Knockemstiff from Donald Ray Pollack.  This one is good folks.  Dzanc was looking at an early version when Doubleday snagged it, and good as it was then, Pollack has tightened it up even more.

Milkweed has another Gary Amdahl book to follow his great short story collection, Visigoths.  This time around, a two novella collection titled I Am Death.  Should be right up my alley.

Plants Don't Drink Coffee, a novel from Unai Elorriaga, translated from the Basque by Amaia Gabantxo will be published by Archipelago Books, and appears to be Rashomanesque with its four tales from different perspectives.

Another effort from Algonquin, this time a novel, Mudbound, from Hillary Jordan, and it appears to be a bit of a southern gothic novel, which as you all know slides nicely into my reading wheelhouse!

Lastly in March, the aforementioned Kevin Sampsell drops his editor hat and puts on his writer hat.  Chiasmus will publish his latest collection of stories, Creamy Bullets.

April

A new collection of poetry from Beth Ann Fennelly from Norton, Unmentionables.  Any time there's a new full collection from Fennelly is a time to get excited!

Akashic Books has a novel from Nina Revoyr, The Age of Dreaming.  I'm pretty much solely relying on publicist Johanna Ingalls recommendation on this one as I've not previously heard of Ms. Revoyr.  This is the first, but not last time you'll see me looking forward to a title solely due to a publicist - the ones that know their business are worth thei weight in gold, and Johanna certainly is one of those.

Keith Gessen's debut novel, All the Sad Young Literary Men, hits stores courtesy of Viking.  While he may currently be best known as a co-editor of the literary journal n+1, his translation of Voices from Chernobyl ranks as one of the best ten books I've read the past five years.

Perhaps my favorite new publisher of 2007, Hotel St. George, will publish Bicycle by Paul Fattaruso.  Based on their first two titles from Aaron Petrovich and Alex Rose, I'm willing to give anything the folks at HSG publish this year.

One more from Coffee House Press this spring, Raymond McDaniel's poetry collection, Saltwater Empire.  I'm fortunate enough to get to see McDaniel every so often in Ann Arbor at Shaman Drum Bookstore where he's cemented his position as THE best reader introducer, possibly ever.  I enjoyed his earlier collection, Murder, and can't wait to dip into this new one.

From Bloomsbury comes the debut novel from Mark Sarvas, Harry, Revised.  This one's a hot one, with sales into many foreign languages already.  I'm sure it's been revised quite a bit, but I've read one or two excerpts that were previously published and have enjoyed the bits and pieces of Mark's writing I've been able to scare up the past few years.

May

Frank Turner Hollon's latest novel, The Wait, comes from his long-term publisher, MacAdam/Cage.  I've read each of Hollon's novels and even his short fiction from the Blue Cafe collections and he's just a top-notch writer.  Typically his works has something to do with our legal system, but not always and it appears this one will not.  Last time around that he didn't dip into the legal system, Life is a Strange Place, just might be my favorite of his until now.

Another publicist recommendation, this time from Unbridled Books' Caitlin Hamilton Summie - a novel from Stephen Evans, The Marriage of True Minds.  It's going to take four or five years in a row of Caitlin giving me bum recommendations before I lose my faith in her taste she's been so dead on for so long.  I can't wait to see this new one from Unbridled.

Jim Krusoe's novel, Girl Factory, from Tin House has a black comedy feel to it from the descriptions and I do enjoy black comedy.  I've not dipped too deeply into the Tin House pile, but they hit solidly last year with Jeff Parker and Lucy Corin.

Dalkey Archive is probably responsible for my earliest delving into translated material, and I plan to go back to them this year to read Mati Unt's Diary of a Blood Donor, which was translated from the Estonian from Ants Eert.

July

Somewhat similar to the earlierr mentioned Iagnemma novel, Hannah Tinti published a fantastic short story collection a few years back and rumblings of a great novel have been following it since.  Ironically, like Iagnemma, this is published by Dial Press - The Good Thief.

MacAdam/Cage will publish Jack Pendarvis' debut novel, Awesome.  I'm a big fan of much of Jack's short fiction and look forward to seeing his take on the novel.

August

Jefferson Press will publish the debut story collection of Arlene Sanders, Tiger Burning Bright.  I've read a few of Arlene's stories this past year or two and look forward to seeing them all in one collection.

Houghtin Mifflin will publish Erin McGraw's second novel, The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard.  Seeing as I consider her debut novel, The Baby Tree, near perfect, I suppose it makes sense that I'd be really excited this one was coming out!  Her long awaited "California" novel.

September

Ron Rash's next novel will find stores thanks to Ecco.  It's titled Serena, and based on the fantastic work he's published to date, how can you not be excited to hear about this?

October

Open Letter will be publishing their first catalogue in the fall and Bragi Olafsson's novel, The Pets, translated from the Icelandic by Janice Balfour, looks very interesting.

November

Another from Open Letter, this time a very dark looking story collection, The Taker and Other Stories by Rubem Fonseca, translated from the Portuguese by Clifford Landers.  Absolutely nothing wrong with dark stories.

Miscellaneous

Press 53 will be publishing an anthology of their open awards sometime in the fall, and Gival Press will be publishing A Tomb on the Periphery, the next novel from John Domini, whose recent Earthquake ID we enjoyed quite a bit recently, but don't have a specific month listed yet.

And for some very selfish reasons, I'm looking greatly forward to seeing the new Dzanc titles in print:  Yannick Murphy's In a Bear's Eye, Peter Markus' Bob, or Man on Boat, The Best of the Web 2008, Hesh Kestin's novellas, Based on a True Story, and Kyle Minor's story collection, In the Devil's Territory.  Not to mention Steven Gillis' Temporary People from Black Lawrence Press in April, OV Books collection from Allison Amend due in October, and November's anthology, Visiting Hours from Press 53, edited by some guy named Dan Wickett.

Anthology Round-Up

Having some involvement with two 2008 anthologies, The Best of the Web 2008 (Dzanc Books, 2008) and Visiting Hours (Press 53, 2008), I have found myself paying a little more attention to other anthologies lately.

Surreal South (Press 53, 2007), edited by Laura & PInckney Benedict.  This is a collection of both short fiction and poetry.  From their introduction:

"That's what you'll find in this volume.  Myths of astonishing and universal power.  Legends.  Ghosts.  Monsters.  Murderers.  Sexual deviants.  Villians.  Heroes.  Wars and rumors of wars.  Football.  Grand Guignol.  Melodrama.  Gothic tales.  Even robots.  The best dreams and the wost dreams of many of the finest writers we know, collected here for your perusal.  This is the world we grew up in;  this is the world we live and work in.  This is the world to which we return endlessly in our dreams, in our fantasies, in our stories and our poems."

The bulk of the work in this particular volume was solicited.  The Benedicts know many of the authors personally.  I know that they also put a couple of calls out to others asking for suggestions, but am not sure just how far a net was cast.  There are 27 authors represented in the collection and 15 of the pieces had previously been published.  Some of the pieces are very well known - William Gay's "The Paperhanger", for instance, was previously published and anthologized in three or four other collections.  Some are excellent selections in that they'll bring a wider audience to some damn good writers such as Dean Paschal, Greg Johnson, and Kyle Minor.  The thing is, this collection might actually have more EWN members than the anthology I put together myself (Visiting Hours) with 16 such authors.

Detroit Noir (Akashic Books, 2007), edited by E.J. Olsen & John C. Hocking, is the 17th collection in the Akashic Noir Series.  As with the others in the series, it is edited by local Detroiters, and they find themselves limited to selecting from writes either living in, or at least originally from, the SE Michigan area.  That's to say, not limited very much at all.  Plenty of damn fine mystery writers live in, and set their stories, in Detroit and its surrounding areas:  Loren Estleman, Craig Holden, Megan Abbott, not to mention just damn fine writers who have found their way into writing some dark fiction such as Peter Markus, Dorene O'Brien, and, oh yeah, somebody named Joyce Carol Oates.  Aside from the Oates story, all of the other pieces appear to have been written specifically with this collection in mind.

Best New American Voices 2008 (Harcourt, 2007), edited by Richard Bausch.  This anthology is different as there are nominations to the editor.  These come from various "Top Writing Programs".  According to the Series Editors, John Kulka & Natalie Danford, they received ove 100 stories for consideration.  Similar to the Best American Short Stories series, these two read all of the stories and winnow them down to a list of finalists to pass on to the editor.  Bausch selected 17 of the stories for inclusion, including excellent efforts from Garth Risk Hallberg, Jedediah Berry, Lauren Groff, Elizabeth Kadetsky, and David James Poissant.

Best American Fantasy (Prime Books, 2007), edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer, is, like Surreal South, in its infancy.  Series Editor, Matthew Cheney, as well as the Vandermeers, have a very broad definition of fantasy that is well thought out, and explained, in their various introductions.  The collection's Table of Contents has names one might not automatically assume they'd find in a collection with Fantasy in the title:  Peter LaSalle, and Gina Ochsner leap to mind immediately, though both of their excellent stories fit right in, both in the collection, and with the definitions given by Cheney and Vandermeer.  Then, there are some names that even this non-regular reader of fantasy would expect to find in the collection:  Kelly Link, Brian Evenson, and Catherine Zeidler all come to mind.  The editors of this fine collection went about putting together their anthology the time consuming way - reading every short story published in 2006 that they could find.

Some quick mini-reviews:

43.  Surreal South (Press 53, 2007)

A fantastic collection of stories and poems from many authors that I have enjoyed reading over the past few years - William Gay, Lee K. Abbott, Ron Rash, Pinckney Benedict, Tom Franklin, Kyle Minor, Katie Estill, Daniel Woodrell, George Singleton, Beth Ann Fennelly ...  Hell, I'm just about typing out the entire table of contents.  This one is well worth your time. 

5 stars.

44.  Detroit Noir (Akashic Books, 2007)

A great start with a Loren Estleman Amos Walker story, and some great pieces like Peter Markus' "The Dead Man's Boat", and Desiree Cooper's "Night Coming" make for some exciting reading.  The other nice thing about this collection is that, while finding stories set in Detroit, that are noir based, this is really a nice varied collection.

4 stars.

45.  Best New American Stories 2008 (Harcourt, 2007)

Seventeen stories from writers enrolled in some of the finest writing programs in the country.  Over half of the stories had already seen the light of day in literary journals, and Elizabeth Kadetsky has already published a non-fiction title, but the editors have done a nice job of finding some truly emerging talent, eady to shine - Lauen Groff, Garth Risk Hallberg, David James Poissant, and Jedediah Berry all have excellent work here.

4 stars

46.  Best American Fantasy (Prime Books, 2007)

A really exciting new anthology, full of great writing, both from writers I had previously been aware of, and writers completely new to me.  The opening story sets a great tone, Sumanth Prabhaker's "A Hard Truth About Waste Management" and does so right from the beginning with its opening line:

"The family liked so much to flush their trash down the toilet that they sold their tv and used the money to buy three chairs to arrange in their upstairs bathroom."

There's much more great work including stories from Peter LaSalle, Kelly Link, Brian Evenson, and an incredible story, "Pregnant", from Catherine Zeidler that was originally published in Hobart.  How the folks at BASS missed out on including it, I'm not sure, but it's great to see folks like the Vandermeers and Cheney searching high and low for the very best work out there.

4.5 stars

EWN'er Wins Best Food Blogging Awards

Michael Ruhlman, author of some of my favorite non-fiction books, has been blogging for about a year now, his blog is listed on the sidebar as FOOD - Michael Ruhlman's blog.  Apparently his blogging has been as well received as his books, as the Well Fed Network blog has given his blog the nod in two separate categories for 2007.  If you list foodie as a hobby along with reader or writer, you'll want to visit his site frequently!

Source of Lit - Meg Galipault

While I realize my typical Source of Lit posts have a literary journal name after the dash, this is not a typical Source of Lit post.

The latest issue of The Kenyon Review arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and I've just cracked it open.  I don't do this with all literary journals, but almost every time the latest KR arrives, I read the Editor's Notes - I enjoy David Lynn's looks both internally at the journal, and externally, at the literary world in general.  Sadly, the final paragraph of the notes in this issue starts off:

"It is my sad and reluctant duty now to mention that Meg Galipault, managing editor of The Kenyon Review, is leaving after five years of creativity and leadership."

I use sadly, above, in a personal, stingy sort of way - I don't want to hear that Meg is leaving because I love what the KR has become in these past five years, both within the pages of each incredible issue, and outside the covers.  Not only is KR one of my favorite journals to read when it arrives, but in the past few years, Meg has signed on board, very early on, in a few crazy EWN based ideas.  And I can state with absolution that her being one of the first to sign on board for the Buy 3, Pay for 2 Literary Journals project we ran here through the EWN website two or three years back helped me convince another 20 or so journals to join up.  I can't say an exact number for sure, but there were plenty that were a bit lukewarm to the idea of playing along until they read my email stating KR would be involved.  KR you say?  Sure, we're in too then, was a frequent reply.

Meg was also one of the first to agree to be part of a tent or two of nothing but literary journals at the 2006 Ann Arbor Book Festival (and thinking back to her, sitting huddle in the 38 degree rainy day, I again profusely apologize for the idea!).  This again helped us recruit journals beyond just the local literary folks to come to Ann Arbor and be a part of something.

In both of those cases, it was great to see Meg bringing the status of The Kenyon Review to projects including much smaller journals.  Not asking for anything special in either case, not making demands because a long-standing, well-respected journal was perhaps taking a step down to sit at the children's table at the holiday dinner.  But, adding their name alongside every other journal that was involved, and sitting right there in the crappy weather all day, not selling a single copy of the KR copies she'd brought up from Ohio.

While it's been great to work with her on these various projects, and continue to see stellar efforts from the journal, and their website and top-notch litblog, over the past five years, on a less selfish note, here's hoping Meg is off to enjoy another challenge.  It may be a bit too late for her to get ready for Beijing, but perhaps London 2012?

What to Buy Friends and Relatives - Pinckney Benedict

Time is running out if you're celebrating Christmas and actually give gifts on the 25th - so I'll try to get a few more of these up today.  There might even be a few posted after Christmas for those of you who bargain shop after the holiday is over.

Today's first suggestions come from Pinckney Benedict, author of one of my favorite debut story collections of all-time, Town Smokes.  I stumbled onto Pinckney's writing as an avid fan and subscriber to The Ontario Review and as they published Town Smokes, how could I resist.  I had also not long before found the writings of Breece D'J Pancake and Bo Ball and seriously began to wonder what the hell was in that West Virginian water.  Since then, Benedict has also published a follow-up collection, The Wrecking Yard, and his debut novel, Dogs of God.  He's slated to see novel number two appear this fall and a story collection to follow about a year later.

"Two books in particular are going out from the Benedict household this Christmas.

The first, and most obvious, is Laura’s blockbuster debut novel Isabella Moon, out in hardback from  Ballantine (audio edition on CD, cassette, and MP3 from Brilliance Audio) and available from fine book retailers everywhere. We consider it the perfect gift because it’s got everything: terror, humor, crime, ghosts, enduring love, and kinky sex (rowr!). To find out more and to see the trailer for the novel, go to www.laurabenedict.com.

The second is the star-studded anthology Surreal South, out in trade paperback from Press53, and edited by both the Benedicts (other than our children, our biggest and finest collaboration). The anthology contains work by (among others) Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Olen Butler, Tom Franklin, George Singleton, Lee K. Abbott, Julianna Baggott, Brad Vice, Benjamin Percy, and Kyle Minor. (You’ll no doubt recognize some EWNers in there, which is no coincidence.)

Surreal South is the inaugural edition of what is to be a biennial anthology series. The next edition is due out in 2009; open submissions (online only) will begin in January 2008. Look to the Press53 website (www.press53.com) for submission guidelines in the near future. For this next edition, we’re particularly interested in the work of new and emerging writers. We urge you to order a copy of the current edition to familiarize yourself with the sort of surreal work for which we’re looking."

And then Pinckney's wife, Laura, aforementioned author and editor, added the following ideas:

"And I would like to add that I'll be plastering the homes of our friends and loved ones with poetry--specifically Rodney Jones's Salvation Blues:  One Hundred Pems from 1985-2005. Rodney is this year's winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Prize and is also one of our national treasures (though he's too modest to admit to it!). Plus, there's a t-shirt available! 

Also, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane because no one is ever too young or old for a love story."  This last one is from Kate Dicamillo and illustrator, Bagram Ibatoulline.

What to Buy Friends and Relatives - Katherine Taylor

I think maybe it's because it's nearly 3 a.m., and I'm thinking on Pacific Coast Time,  and out there it's barely midnight - but this is my second consecutive gift suggestion post from a Los Angeles writer, the main difference being I've already read Katherine Taylor's book, The Rules for Saying Goodbye.  It's absolutely worth your time to go find, buy, and read this one - even if you get stuck in one of those monstrous holiday lines for the register.  Better yet, when the paperback comes out, go to a reading and pepper Ms. Taylor with questions after she's done with her reading - she's a huge fan of the Q&A afterwards!

I always, always bring books instead of wine.  This year I'm giving 4 copies of The Grand Surprise:  The Journals of Leo Lerman (to hosts with whom I am generally acquainted, because it's a book full of marvelous chums and intimate friendships that develop through the life of parties), 6 copies of Friendship, An Expose by Joseph Epstein (to hosts with whom I am well acquainted), 6 copies of Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk (at parties where I know the host well enough to know that he likes to read, but not well enough to give him a book called Friendship), and a huge box full of The Mystery Guest by Gregoire Bouillier (to hosts whom I can say with relative certainty aren't expecting me, at parties to which I don't know yet I've been invited -- the most common sort of party these days, it seems). 

My brother has the infuriating habit of ransacking my library, so this year he's getting his own copies of David Francis's The Great Inland Sea, Jardine Libaire's Here Kitty Kitty, and Orhan Pamuk's Snow. He is also getting that book about how to spot a sociopath.  I can't remember what it's called.  Something like How To Spot A Sociopath.

Source of Lit - Monkeybicycle

A bit late on this as well, but have you been wandering over for your daily fix of holiday stories over at Monkeybicycle?  Steven Seighman and Eric Spitznagel (especially in regards to the web stories) have been putting up new short stories every day for some time now including efforts from EWN favorites like Elizabeth Ellen, Aaron Burch, Amy Guth, and Myfanwy Collins.

Not only that, but they've got issue five going to the printer soon - it's the bound to be sold out comedy issue with an introduction from David Cross, and pieces from both your favorite literary folks, and comedy folks such as Patton Oswalt and Sarah Silverman.  It doesn't look like the pre-orders are set for it yet, but as you're checking in each day to read the holiday stories, I bet you'll run into that pre-order button soon.

What to Buy Friends and Relatives - Mark Sarvas

December 23rd?  Seriously?  I'd better get cracking for those of you looking for last second Xmas gifts (as I was, earlier Saturday, and will be again, later today).  This time around, I've got to Mark Sarvas for some recommendations.  Mark runs the literary blog The Elegant Variation (a daily visit of mine).  His criticism has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Threepenny Review and others.  His debut novel, HARRY, REVISED, (note - the pictured is not the final cover, but perhaps the galley cover) will be released by Bloomsbury in the spring.

"There are four books I'm likely to give as holiday gifts this year, two novels and, unusually for me, two non-fiction books.  I've been championing The Indian Clerk since it came out, and I will certainly be giving copies of this wonderful novel which recounts the unlikely friendship between the British mathematician G.H. Hardy and the Indian prodigy of the title, Srinivasa Ramanujan.  It's epic, intelligent, and engrossing.  I'll also be handing out some copies of J.M. Coetzee's Diary of a Bad Year which, though hardly cheery holiday reading, is simply extraordinary, a must-read for any devotee of serious fiction.

On the non-fiction front, I have some musician friends who will be finding Alex Ross's the Rest is Noise in their stockings.  This look at the history of 20th century classical music is framed against the unfolding events of the day, and is meticulously researched and beautifully written.  Finally, to help out those slow readers like myself (and unlike the prodigious Mr. Wickett!), I'll be giving copies of Pierre Bayard's very smart and very funny How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read.  Which, y'know, I haven't actually read, but do have an opinion about ..."

What to Buy Friends and Relatives - Quinn Dalton

And, back to the immensely popular Holiday Gift Suggestions series we've been running, this time around Quinn Dalton pipes in.  Quinn has published the novel, High Strung (Atria), and the short story collections, Bulletproof Girl (Atria) and Stories from the Afterlife (2007, Press53), and is an EWN favorite - one of her stories will be included in the anthology, Visiting Hours (2008, Press53) that a certain somebody who works round these parts edited.

"For kids, I’m recommending two books from EWN member Julianna Baggott, The Slippery Map and the Amazing Compendium of Edward Magorium, a prequel novel to the just-released Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium movie. Both are written under the pen name N. E. Bode and are fabulous for the read-aloud crowd (ages 7-9) and the read alone YA’ers—age 10 and up. They also happen to be excellent reads for adults, which is great if you happen to be a parent of read-alouders, as I am.

Anthologies make good gifts—a handy way to give a sampler of writers in one package. A new one worth reading and giving is Surreal South, edited by Pinckney and Laura Benedict and featuring contributors such as Joyce Carol Oates, Ron Rash and George Singleton—as well as Julianna Baggott, mentioned above. Full disclosure: Press 53, the publisher, is also the publisher of my latest book. But I loved Surreal South and you will, too.

Speaking of Ron Rash and George Singleton—two favorite writers of mine—I recommend both of their latest: Singleton’s Work Shirts for Madmen and Rash’s Chemistry and Other Stories. Also, a book that came out last year which I just came across recently and loved was You’re Not the Boss of Me—a collection of essays by Erika Schickel. Hysterical, excellent, in-your-face truthful writing about motherhood and family.

And, finally, What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, a novel by Dave Eggers based on Deng’s escape from Sudan as one of the Lost Boys, his years in those shifting cities known as refugee camps, and his transition to American life. It is beautifully written, well-told, horrific and yet also a love story. You just should read it."

You Know You Hate Them - Mini-Reviews

While I still hold the solemn belief (Delusional Alert - Duck!) that I'll have full length reviews of each of these written and posted by year end - in order to give some props to the books I've enjoyed this year, with at least a little holiday advance, here are some mini-reviews:

16.  Like Son by Felicia Luna Lemus (Akashic Books)

With Frank Cruz, Felicia Luna Lemus has written a wonderfully complex protagonist.  She’s also given Frank a great counterpart in Nathalie, the women he falls in love with after moving from California to New York.  Their relationship and everything they go through is documented in unique fashion by FLL. 

4.5 stars

17.  Dave Sim’s Collected  Letters by Dave Sim (Aardvark Vanaheim)

Dave Sim is the creator and writer/artist of Cerberus, a comic book that was self-published on a near monthly basis for 300 issues – simply put, a monumental feat.  When it was most popular, somewhere in the low 100’s, it was selling over 33,000 copies each issue.  It dwindled to under 10,000 by the end, as many found Sim’s views misogynistic and his delving into religion to be far, far from what they were looking for in a comic.  This book collects Dave’s letters, most of which are replies to letters he received.  It’s an interesting concept, and if nothing else, trying to follow Sim’s logic throughout is an interesting time. 

3.5 stars

18.  Lizzie Borden in Love by Julianna Baggott (SIU Press)

19.  Compulsions of Silkworms & Bees by Julianna Baggott (Pleiades Press)

Two new poetry collections by Baggott, both of which are excellent.  Being a little lazy with my poetry reading (and comprehension), I liked the SIU book a little more as it had a specific theme – Julianna writing in what she developed as the voices of famous women like, as titled, Lizzie Borden, and others.

4.5 and 4.0 stars, respectively

20.  Earthquake I.D. by John Domini (Red Hen Press)

A great, jam-packed novel about, well, here’s where it gets tough, which to me is always a good sign.  A family travels to Italy, mome wants to leave dad, the middle son is seen as a Christ figure by the locals, and much, much more is going on.  All handled skillfully, both in terms of character development, and plot. 

4.0 stars