A vast range of political, historical, and religious influences went into Margaret Atwood’s dystopia, including one unexpected logo.
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Cost of Being a Regular Ol’ American Place
What does it mean for the Midwest to think of itself as a featureless land full of average Americans?
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Story
City on a Hill
A dementia patient’s daughter begins to question her own grasp on reality.
Posted inFiction, Nonfiction, Quotes
Obama by the Books
In Vulture, book critic Christian Lorentzen suggests we dispense with terms like “postmodern” and “postwar” when discussing novels, and instead analyze them relative to the presidential administrations under which they were released. What will we mean when someday we refer to Obama Lit? I think we’ll be discussing novels about authenticity, or about “problems of […]
Posted inNonfiction
The Rub of Rough Sex
Chelsea G. Summers considers the ways in which outwardly ‘progressive’ men like former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman use kink as a cover for abuse.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Wrestling With My Father
Brian Gresko considers the lingering consequences when the only touches between father and son are abusive ones.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Considering the Novel in the Age of Obama
Have “postmodern” and “postwar” have become outmoded as classifications for novels? Lorentzen suggests it’s more useful to look at trends in fiction relative to the administration they were released under. During Obama’s, he says, novelists looked to answer questions of authenticity. During Trump’s, he anticipates dystopian narratives.
Posted inArts & Culture, Audio, Books, Profiles & Interviews, Story
Lying Down in the Dirt: An Interview with Denis Johnson
“I thought I’d never publish these things. I thought it was important for me to hide the fact that I’m not right in the head.”
Posted inNonfiction, Story
Looking Inside My Heart
Jen Hyde discovered that her heart valve was made by women working in a factory near her childhood home. Getting to know them brought her closer to her own mother.
Posted inFiction, Quotes
Law and Order, Coffee Shop Edition
Susan Read’s short fiction centers on a Kafka-esque interrogation in the back room of a coffee shop — you know, the one where they wear the green aprons — that’s a stinging indictment of the byzantine policies, procedures, and psychology of being a low wage employee.
