The fiction we admired most in 2018 ran the proverbial gamut from thought-provoking surrealism to evocative realism. Some illuminated the present day or recent past, while others ventured into much more uncharted territory. Some took us to unimaginable psyches; others showcased how ordinary people dealt with the extraordinary. Here’s a look at ten of our favorite works of fiction this year.
In our morning reading: new writing by Brandon Hobson and Alex McElroy, revisiting the music of Chic, and more.
In our afternoon reading: Brandon Hobson and Kristen Arnett look back at the year, Jonathan Lethem discusses narrators, and more.
In our afternoon reading: revisiting the music of This Heat, new comics from Lincoln Michel and John Dermot Woods, and much more.
Like the tone of my favorite guitarists, some authors possess voices I immediately recognize. Brandon Hobson belongs to that list. Gloom, bizarre events, and beautiful-yet-unpretentious writing are the translucent shellac covering of a style that hides a raw, beating heart full of longing at it’s center. In Where the Dead Sit Talking, Hobson is once again in fine form, delivering a lyrical, somewhat brutal, and very touching coming of age story set in rural Oklahoma in the late 1980s.
In our morning reading: interviews with Alexander Chee, thoughts on books by Sheila Heti and Brandon Hobson, and more.
With each new novel, Brandon Hobson has created a complete universe, with a distinct tone and voice. His latest novel, Where the Dead Sit Talking, tells the story of Sequoyah, a troubled Cherokee teenager who winds up living with a foster family after his mother is jailed. It’s a quietly devastating book, full of character struggling to understand their own troubles and connect with those around them. It also marks a significant shift from the surreal urban spaces of Desolation […]
In our morning reading: book recommendations from Brandon Hobson, nonfiction by Aaron Gilbreath, and much more.