Fiction

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't." — Mark Twain

• Andrei Bitov, Russian Politics, and Postmodernism

  Known for his sharp wit and idiosyncratic prose, Andrei Bitov has become a curious fixture within the Russian literary establishment.

  Matt KendallAug 15, 2015

  • Fiction

• Find this, Americans, and get it into your bones

  — The Dying Grass and other Dreams of William T. Vollmann

  Nick HoldstockAug 14, 2015

  • Fiction

  • Literary Fiction

• What Can “Go Set a Watchman” Teach Us That “To Kill a Mockingbird” Cannot?

  Go Set a Watchman is not a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee intended it to be an entirely different book.

  Anne RichardsonAug 14, 2015

  • Fiction

• Manifold Destiny

  Vollmann wishes for a release from ahistoricism that deprives Americans of the perspective needed to grapple capably with problems arising in the present.

  Christopher K. CoffmanAug 14, 2015

  • Fiction

  • Literary Fiction

• Juan Villoro: At Last, an English Translation Brings His Seriously Funny Take on Identity to New Audiences

  Juan Villoro is an under-known Mexican writer, whose humorous short stories probe questions of identity, self-perception, and authorship.

  Ryan LongAug 8, 2015

  • Fiction

  • Humor

• Found in Translation: The Complete Stories of Clarice Lispector

  Lispector deftly navigates the paradoxical interior landscape common to all women sorting through questions of societal expectation and identity.

  Stephanie LaCavaAug 3, 2015

  • Fiction

• Ms. Difficult

  Jennifer Glaser reviews Lidia Yuknavitch's new book, "The Small Backs of Children."

  Jennifer GlaserJul 31, 2015

  • Fiction

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  No Civil War Reenactments Were Injured in the Writing of This Novel

  Inherited institutional racism allows you to say you are merely upholding tradition. We become like this ant colony, where no one person stole the picnic.

  Ben BushJul 27, 2015

  • Fiction

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  The End of Us: E.L. Doctorow’s Last Warning

  Let's talk about how the whole scope of E.L. Doctorow's work has earned him the right to a hearing for his apocalyptic, Cassandra-like warning.

  Ron RosenbaumJul 26, 2015

  • Fiction

• Death and Other Holes: The Novels of Viola Di Grado

  There is a certain circularity to Viola Di Grado's novels, in which all paths inevitably begin from and lead to other holes, from cradle to grave.

  Thea LenarduzziJul 22, 2015

  • Fiction

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  The Falling Apartness of Things

  NoViolet Bulawayo interview with David Palumbo-Liu.

  David Palumbo-LiuJul 20, 2015

  • Fiction

• What Rubbish They Publish

  The Prank proves Anton Chekhov could write hilarious stories from an early age.

  Bob BlaisdellJul 20, 2015

  • Fiction

  • Literary Fiction