In our afternoon reading: new fiction from Zadie Smith; interviews with Terese Svodoba, Chuck Palahniuk, and Tomas Tranströmer; news of a new Yo La Tengo album; and more.
Revisiting Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Zadie Smith and Elif Batuman (among many others) contributed to an exquisite corpse short story, thoughts on Aphex Twin, and more.
Earlier in the month, I came across Jo Walton’s glowing review of Angelica Gorodischer’s Kalpa Imperial. (The English translation is by Ursula K. Le Guin.) Then I read Sofia Samatar’s write-up of the same book, and realized that I should probably give it a proper read, as it had been glaring at me from my to-read shelf for a while. And, sure enough, I found it to be terrific. Largely organized as a storyteller recounting the long history of an empire, […]
Those of you seeking unconventional speculative fiction would do well to delve into the works of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. They wrote in the Soviet Union from the late 1950s through the late 1980s. Their novel Roadside Picnic was the inspiration for Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, and Melville House recently released a new edition of their mindbending short novel Definitely Maybe, which blends metaphysical speculation and satire born of the paranoia of living in an authoritarian state.
An excerpt from a classic by Ursula K. Le Guin, a guide to John Updike, thoughts on literary insomnia, new music from Terry Riley debuts, and more.
Happy 90th birthday, Stan Lee. SPIN on Wayne Coyne’s very strange 2012. At the London Review of Books, Christopher Tayler reviews Richard Bradford’s The Odd Couple: The Curious Friendship between Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin. Mike Faloon on Rev. Nørb’s book and Nick Fury’s eyepatch. Young Money Poetry, taking place on 12/30 at Microscope Gallery, looks like a fine reading. Our own Tobias Carroll looks at two new collections of Ursula K. Le Guin’s short fiction. Zach Barocas (Bells≥/Jawbox/The Cultural Society) on […]
Panio Gianopolous’s A Familiar Beast can be pre-ordered as of today. Also, antlers. The case for Ursula K. Le Guin. Kevin Brockmeier would like to tell you about Leandro Sarmatz. Tips on avoiding writer’s block from 13 noteworthy writers. Adam Fitzgerald’s collection The Late Parade is due out in 2013. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.