by Jennifer Knapp Strattman | Aug 10, 2016
Gateway to Paradise: Stories by Matthew Vollmer Persea Books. 2015. ‘What is Paradise?’ Matthew Vollmer’s unified story collection, Gateway to Paradise begs to explore. With symbols and motifs dating back to Eden, Vollmer aptly juxtaposes verdant beauty with the...
by David Z. Drees | Mar 29, 2016
A Boy’s Book of Nervous Breakdowns: Stories by Tom Paine Louisiana State University Press, 2015. Published in 2015 by Louisiana State University Press, Tom Paine’s third book, A Boy’s Book of Nervous Breakdowns: Stories, is a collection of nine short stories,...
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 Natalie Mesnard | Oct 5, 2015
Families Among Us by Blake Kimzey Black Lawrence Press. 2014 Quirk is hard to do well. Magic realism and absurdist tropes can (and often do) serve as tools to avoid the exploration necessary to get inside characters’ heads. Because of this, I’m often on guard when I...
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...
