The History of Impossible Towns: An Interview With David Leo Rice

Describing David Leo Rice‘s new novel ANGEL HOUSE is the stuff out of which madness arises. There’s a godlike being answering to mysterious, ominous superiors; there’s a town created spontaneously from a blank landscape; there’s a running subplot about filmaking; and the lines between consciousnesses occasionally blur. (I should mention here that I’m not entirely unbiased regarding ANGEL HOUSE, by which I mean that I blurbed this book.) Rice has created something here that conjures up memories of the works of Julio Cortazár and Michael Cisco: it’s primally unsettling and unnervingly compelling. I asked him some questions about it on the eve of its release this week.

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Vol.1 Brooklyn’s June 2019 Book Preview

What does the month of June have in store for us? When it comes to books, plenty. A few debut novels we’ve been excited about since they were first announced, some new works by longtime Vol.1 Brooklyn favorites, and some works in translation that promise to expand our horizons. Here’s a look at some of the books that have us most intrigued for the month to come.

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Sunday Stories: “Jonathan Edwards, Rabbi”

Jonathan Edwards, Rabbi
by David Leo Rice

My family, let there be no obfuscation or mincing of words by dint of false modesty, is descended from a long, long line of Northampton Jews, going all the way back to its most prominent and controversial rabbi, Jonathan Edwards himself, considered by many to have been the town’s founder, in spirit if not also in deed.

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