Shattered Lives, Evoked With Subtlety: Jessica Francis Kane’s Collection “This Close” Reviewed

This Close: Stories by Jessica Francis Kane Graywolf Press; 179 p. Jessica Francis Kane’s This Close doesn’t go for the showy. Its conflicts and themes are weighty: within its pages, you can find early death, the effects of depression on a close-knit family, and a devastatingly awkward interaction buoyed by class conflict. But the resolutions of these stories stray from operatic extremes or sudden, striking denouements. The power of these stories comes from subtle accumulations, of details that seem to […]

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Went to: Jessica Francis Kane, Mark Slouka, and Benjamin Percy; Graywolf Press Night at Bookcourt

Posted by Tobias Carroll I arrived at Bookcourt on a brisk Tuesday night to find their beskylighted space abounding with red wine and sea salt-crusted brownies. The occasion was the second installment of said bookstore’s small press reading series, here spotlighting the work of the Minneapolis-based publisher Graywolf Press. It was introduced by Emma Straub and Adam Wilson, the latter of whom read a essay citing the role of independent presses in spotlighting work under-appreciated in its day. The phrase […]

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