AltWeeklies Wire

Stories about Stories: Kevin Brockmeier’s new story collection retells (relatively) new talesnew

Each of the 13 stories in The View from the Seventh Layer is some ingenius variation of narrative genre — there are four fables, a ghost story, an alien abduction story, a fantasy, a science-fiction romance, a situation comedy of sorts, and even a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story. Only a few of these breezy and sometimes elegant stories subscribe to that 20th-century dogma of short-story writing that Michael Chabon has called — in the tongue-and-cheek introduction to McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales — the “contemporary, quotidian, plotless, moment-of-truth revelatory story.”
Charleston City Paper  |  John Stoehr  |  07-23-2008  |  Fiction

Dead Calmnew

Brockmeier talks about the two worlds of his quick, slim novel.
Chicago Newcity  |  Tom Lynch  |  02-07-2007  |  Author Profiles & Interviews

Remembrance of Persons Passednew

The souls in Brockmeier's novel eat, drink and sleep, although their hearts never beat.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta)  |  Thomas Bell  |  02-16-2006  |  Fiction

Remembrance of Persons Pastnew

Death, like magic and insanity, has always provided a good excuse for authors to go nonlinear with their writing, and Brockmeier uses the opportunity to gorgeous effect.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta)  |  Thomas Bell  |  02-09-2006  |  Fiction

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