by Marcus Pactor | Jun 26, 2017
All Back Full by Robert Lopez Dzanc books. 2017. Robert Lopez’s All Back Full is the most nihilistic book I’ve read in years. It is a remarkable achievement, especially if one measures an artistic achievement by its completeness of vision and demonstration of...
by Marcus Pactor | Mar 13, 2016
Upright Beasts by Lincoln Michel Coffee House Press. 2015 Blurbs of Lincoln Michel’s Upright Beasts include the words “haunting” and “sinister.” His stories indeed have dark underpinnings, yet I finished this collection feeling more comforted than disturbed....
by Marcus Pactor | Oct 15, 2015
Winterswim by Ryan W. Bradley Civil Coping Mechanism. 2014 You’d think Ryan W. Bradley’s Winterswim could rake in a lot of dough. Consider this summary: Steven Long is a good kid with a long-time crush on Kate Stultz, the beauty who ditched their hometown of Wasilla,...
by Marcus Pactor | Sep 25, 2015
Niceties: Aural Ardor, Pardon Me by Elizabeth Mikesch Calamari Press. 2014 The narrator of Elizabeth Mikesch’s Niceties is not interested in explaining her life to you. She is only sometimes interested in thinning the fog between you and her, providing glimpses here...
by Marcus Pactor | Mar 31, 2015
Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours by Luke B. Goebel Fiction Collective Two. 2014. 184 pages. My first couple years of college, I studied with the late Harry Crews. I read all his books and took his word as the gospel on fiction. When he was writing...
