Running the Whale’s Back
By Short Story Issue 72
The following excerpt is from the novel A Blessed Snarl, forthcoming from Breakwater Books in 2012. THE WEATHERMAN’S HAND sweeps from Labrador down Newfoundland’s fanged north coast to Saint John’s, his finger squiggling from there down to Renews: the sea white against green land. He’s talking about winds rifling in from the north. The…
Read MoreGlorybound
By Short Story Issue 72
The following excerpts are from the novel Glorybound, forthcoming from WordFarm Press in 2012. Aimee THE LEMLEY SISTERS had decided they would drive to the prison on the first Monday in August, but on that morning, Aimee woke with bad pain. It was still dark, not yet five. She peeled off her blanket and…
Read MoreThe Wages of Sin
By Book Review Issue 71
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (Viking Press, 2011) Faith by Jennifer Haigh (Harper, 2011) The Color of Night by Madison Smartt Bell (Vintage, 2011) The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak (Bellevue Literary Press, 2011) THE CHRISTIAN NOVELIST,” Flannery O’Connor writes, “is distinguished from his pagan colleagues by recognizing sin as sin. According to his heritage he…
Read MoreThe Reclusive Novel: Community, Tradition, and Loneliness
By Book Review Issue 83
Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014) Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers (Knopf, 2014) High as the Horses’ Bridles by Scott Cheshire (Henry Holt and Co, 2014) THE WORLD HAS TURNED SMALL in our hands.…
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