In our afternoon reading: an interview with Meredith Alling, the most anticipated books of 2017, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Richard McGuire’s Drawings, Meredith Alling’s Playlist, and More
In our afternoon reading: new nonfiction from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, James Yeh on the drawings of Richard McGuire, and more.
Morning Bites: “Wuthering Heights” On Screen, Meredith Alling, Nelson Algren Revisited, and More
In our morning reading: “Wuthering Heights” on film, an excerpt from Meredith Alling’s collection, and more.
Baiting the Hook of the Uncanny: A Review of Meredith Alling’s “Sing the Song”
Opening lines can make or break entire novels. Meredith Alling has taken this kind of thinking to heart, as evidenced in the first sentence of her story, “Ancient Ham”: “Once a year the Ancient Ham crawls out of the sewer to sit on a curb and answer questions.” Already the reader intuits that Alling has a deep understanding of flash fiction and knows how to hook readers like Steelheads in spawning season. This lies at the heart of Sing the […]
Morning Bites: Mauro Javier Cardenas, Garth Greenwell on Influences, “Searching For John Hughes,” Meredith Alling, and More
In our morning reading: an interview with Mauro Javier Cardenas, thoughts on Jason Diamond’s new memoir, Meredith Alling interviews herself, and more.
“I’m Very Concerned With the Poetry of Them”: Meredith Alling on Writing “Sing the Song”
Meredith Alling’s debut story collection, Sing the Song (available this month from Future Tense Books) is a powerful debut. LitHub named it one of its 16 Books You Should Read This November, and for good reason. The collection is unique, yes, (an ancient ham rolls out from a sewer to tell fortunes in one of the book’s most memorable stories), but it’s Alling’s lyrical, dream-like language that makes Sing the Song a stand out collection. The book is imaginative, odd, and surreal, while still managing to make profound commentary on our everyday world. I spoke with Meredith over email about her writing process, sentence structure, and what we can expect next from this debut.
Vol. 1 Brooklyn’s November 2016 Book Preview
What does November hold, in terms of books hitting the shelves? We’re glad you asked. As we advance deeper into fall, literary offerings will appear on bookstore shelves from critically acclaimed powerhouses, champions of experimental fiction, writers appearing in translation, and more. There are new editions of cult classics, and the first book from Vol.1 Brooklyn’s founder–all told, a terrific month to be reading. Here are some of the books that have gotten our attention for this month.
“Zero”: An Excerpt From Meredith Alling’s “Sing the Song”
On November 18th, Future Tense Books will release the first collection of short stories from Meredith Alling, Sing the Song. Alling’s fiction has appeared in places like The Guardian, No Tokens, Spork, and Tin House. We’re pleased to present an excerpt from her collection today–namely, the story “Zero.”