Fiction

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

No Firm Fortress, No Retreat: Reading, and Mourning, “Moby-Dick” on the Cusp of Climate Catastrophe
Reading Melville’s “Moby-Dick” on the author’s 200th birthday, Kathleen Rooney mourns all that climate catastrophe will take from us.
Kathleen RooneyAug 1, 2019
- Fiction
Life in the Holding Pen: A Conversation with Ryan Chapman
David Breithaupt speaks to Ryan Chapman, author of “Riots I Have Known.”
David BreithauptJul 31, 2019
- Fiction
The Carrot and the Stick: On Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys”
Art Edwards reviews Colson Whitehead’s new novel, “The Nickel Boys.”
Art EdwardsJul 31, 2019
- Fiction
Getting to Know and Love Yourself Without Regard to Others’ Expectations or Thoughts: On Trisha R. Thomas’s “Nappily Ever After”
Trisha R. Thomas’s “Nappily Ever After” is about much more than hair.
Precious WonJul 30, 2019
- Fiction
- Film
The Influence of the Father: A Conversation Between Adam Ehrlich Sachs and Michael Hofmann
Adam Sachs interviews poet, critic, and translator Michael Hofmann about his father’s influence on his writing.
Adam Ehrlich SachsJul 24, 2019
There Are No Bootstraps: On Madeline ffitch’s “Stay and Fight”
E. M. Tran reviews Madeline ffitch’s debut novel, “Stay and Fight.”
E. M. TranJul 23, 2019
- Fiction
The Great Deflector
Fran Ross’s mind was shrewd and skewering, and perhaps her writings will never sit easy among those who look for programmatic answers.
Scott SaulJul 22, 2019
- Biography & Autobiography
- Fiction
On Interracial Love: Why James Baldwin’s “Another Country” Still Matters
"Another Country" does not celebrate interracial love; it suggests only its fragile possibility, showing a racial America stripped bare.
Erik GleibermannJul 18, 2019
- Fiction
Tackling Three-Letter Words — LSD, Sex, and God: An Interview with T. C. Boyle
T. C. Boyle dives down the rabbit hole of sex, drugs, and God in his interview with James Penner.
James PennerJul 16, 2019
- Fiction
“But There Has Been a Catastrophe”: On Vasily Grossman’s “Stalingrad”
Philip Ó Ceallaigh searches for truth behind the censorship of “Stalingrad,” the epic novel by Vasily Grossman, translated by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler.
Philip Ó CeallaighJul 15, 2019
- Around the World
- Fiction
Past and Pastiche in Howard A. Rodman’s “The Great Eastern”
Brian Evenson finds Howard A. Rodman’s sprawling, engaging novel "The Great Eastern" “a kind of return to what adventurous literature used to be.”
Brian EvensonJul 15, 2019
- Fiction
- SF
Toward the Weirdy-Beardy: On Andrei Egunov-Nikolev’s “Beyond Tula: A Soviet Pastoral”
James Womack romps through “Beyond Tula: A Soviet Pastoral,” translated from the Russian by Ainsley Morse.
James WomackJul 14, 2019
- Around the World
- Fiction