In our morning reading: a playlist from JD Scott, thoughts on Brandon Hobson’s new book, and more.
Vol.1 Brooklyn’s Best of 2018: Fiction
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.
Morning Bites: Brandon Hobson, Revisiting Rose Macauley, Richard Chiem’s Collection, and More
In our morning reading: new writing by Brandon Hobson and Alex McElroy, revisiting the music of Chic, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Brandon Hobson, Jonathan Lethem on Narrators, Josephine W. Johnson, Kristen Arnett on Taxidermy, and More
In our afternoon reading: Brandon Hobson and Kristen Arnett look back at the year, Jonathan Lethem discusses narrators, and more.
Afternoon Bites: This Heat, Alice Bolin on True Crime, Revisiting “A Wrinkle In Time,” Brandon Hobson Interviewed, and More
In our afternoon reading: revisiting the music of This Heat, new comics from Lincoln Michel and John Dermot Woods, and much more.
The Poetics and Pain of Brandon Hobson’s “Where the Dead Sit Talking”
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.
Morning Bites: Alexander Chee, Sheila Heti’s Latest, Revisiting “Liquid Sky,” Brandon Hobson, and More
In our morning reading: interviews with Alexander Chee, thoughts on books by Sheila Heti and Brandon Hobson, and more.
Storytelling About Storytelling: Brandon Hobson on Writing “Where the Dead Sit Talking”
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 […]