Clifford Garstang's Blog, page 163
April 6, 2010
Kind Words for In an Uncharted Country
The April issue of The Short Review includes a very thoughtful review of In an Uncharted Country. There's also an interview with yours truly.
The issue also includes reviews of books by Peter Orner, David Eagleman, John Cheever, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Ian Daley, Mary Gaitskill, Kathryn Ma, David Constantine, and Paolo Bacigalupi.
College Hill Review
Here's the latest issue of the College Hill Review, a double issue in honor of the late Richard Poirier.
April 5, 2010
The New Yorker: "The TV" by Ben Loory
Huh? So the man (who has no name, which means he's "everyman" I suppose) plays hooky from work and watches TV, but realizes that he's watching himself. When he returns to work, he sees that his TV self has done more work than his real self usually does. And it turns out on other channels his other self is a surgeon, an undercover agent, etc. Eventually "the man" decides to stop watching TV and throw it away, but on his way down stairs he runs into himself bringing the TV back, and those...
April 4, 2010
Andrew's Book Club -- April Picks
Andrew's Book Club
This month, Andrew picks two small press books: Becky Hagenston's Strange Weather, out from Press 53. The book won the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction but the press folded, so it's wonderful for everyone concerned that Press 53 was able to step in. And Matthew Pitt's Attention Please Now, from Autumn House Press. There's one "big house" pick this month, too: Robin Black's If I Loved You, I Would Tell You, from Random House.
This month, Andrew picks two small press books: Becky Hagenston's Strange Weather, out from Press 53. The book won the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction but the press folded, so it's wonderful for everyone concerned that Press 53 was able to step in. And Matthew Pitt's Attention Please Now, from Autumn House Press. There's one "big house" pick this month, too: Robin Black's If I Loved You, I Would Tell You, from Random House.
ASC: The Roman Actor
The Actors' Renaissance Season draws to a close today with the matinee performance of Twelfth Night, which I've seen twice and highly recommend.But last night I saw ASC perform The Roman Actor by Phillip Massinger, a play I had never seen before and knew nothing about. While the plot of the play isn't terribly complicated, it is filled with important ideas about despotism and power, and also about the roles we play. The despotic emperor takes a wife, never mind that she's already married--Cae...
April 2, 2010
Live at the Paramount! | With Good Reason Radio
When I blogged about the Virginia Festival of the Book, I mentioned "American Accents," the program in the Paramount theater featuring Elizabeth Strout, Lee Smith, Colum McCann and Ethelbert Miller. It was taped for radio, and here's the program link: Live at the Paramount! | With Good Reason Radio
storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories 2008
For what it's worth, here is a list: storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories 2008
April 1, 2010
The New Yorker: "Gavin Highly" by Janet Frame
Here's another story from New Zealander Janet Frame, who died in 2004. In this one, Gavin Highly is the town oddity, a guy who is said to have lived in a rabbit burrow and invited ferrets to tea. But now he's in a house that's about to be condemned and in order to raise money to buy a proper house, he's going to sell his books, which Highly says are worth a lot. "Gavin Highly collected and loved books. No one had every really seen these books, but hearsay had it that they were worth...
ASC - No Kidding Shakespeare Camp for Adults
A week of Shakespeare camp this summer? What an awesome idea! I think I'd pass on the dorm living, but I'm seriously considering signing up for this!ASC - No Kidding Shakespeare Camp for Adults
