Fiction

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

Putting Characters Under Pressure: A Conversation with Jung Yun
The author discusses her new novel about the North Dakota oil boom, “O Beautiful.”
Gracie JordanJan 1, 2022
- Fiction
Frank Bergon: New Old West Mystifier
A Western writer blends elements of cowboy myth with modern brawling.
Allen WierJan 1, 2022
- Fiction
“Steely-eyed Realism”: On Maceo Montoya’s “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces”
A tragicomic bildungsroman about the legacies of art history and the Chicano movement.
Bidisha BanerjeeDec 30, 2021
- Fiction
Spies in Neverland: On Ana Schnabl’s “The Masterpiece”
A novel about illicit love and betrayal in 1980s Slovenia.
Michael TateDec 29, 2021
- Fiction
Mutations of Warped Manliness: Selva Almada’s “Brickmakers”
A brilliant, nuanced novel about the links between masculinity and violence in Argentina.
Cory OldweilerDec 28, 2021
- Fiction
“Exquisitely Curated Lives”: On Ayşegül Savaş’s “White on White”
The celebrated Turkish author’s second novel is a spare, affecting study of friendship between women.
Kaya GençDec 28, 2021
- Fiction
Three Questions for Maceo Montoya Regarding His Illustrated Novel, “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces”
Daniel Olivas interviews Maceo Montoya about his newly published illustrated novel, “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces.”
Daniel A. OlivasDec 25, 2021
- Fiction
A Tech Critic Embraces Dave Eggers’s “The Every”
A tech critic lauds Dave Eggers’s ability to viscerally ground the issues he talks about in dry academese, like slippery slopes and normalization processes.
Evan SelingerDec 19, 2021
- Fiction
A Lifeline to Greece: On Homero Aridjis’s “Smyrna in Flames”
Stephanos Papadopoulos praises “Smyrna in Flames,” a fictionalized memoir by Greek Mexican poet Homero Aridjis.
Stephanos PapadopoulosDec 18, 2021
- Fiction
“Her Smell Spoke Another Language”: On Tice Cin’s “Keeping the House”
In this novel of immigrant life in London, terrors and pleasures loom just out of frame.
Piper FrenchDec 16, 2021
- Fiction
Inching Toward His Due: On Two New Translations of Kleist
Dylan Brown considers two new translations of Heinrich von Kleist and the German Romantic writer’s growing reputation in English.
Dylan BrownDec 14, 2021
- Fiction
The Wrath of the Gods: Surviving the Pandemic with Petronius, Fitzgerald, and Eliot
The "Satyricon" shaped two of the most important texts of the 20th century — and the Petronian "anti-epic" is still funny, even during Covid.
Ted ScheinmanDec 9, 2021
- Fiction