AltWeeklies Wire
Joseph Ferris' Novel Doesn't Live Up to the Hypenew
Make no mistake, Then We Came to the End is not without its merits -- but that's also part of its undoing.
The Portland Mercury |
Courtney Ferguson |
03-20-2008 |
Fiction
Ambition Achievednew
Richard Price betrays his cellular familiarity with the Lower East Side in Lush Life, his riveting eighth novel, without once sounding like he's broken a sweat.
The Portland Mercury |
Chas Bowie |
03-20-2008 |
Fiction
Scott Heim's Demonsnew
It's weird to imagine that a fucked-up novel like We Disappear could be partly autobiographical. The parts about holding a boy captive in the basement are not, thankfully.
The Portland Mercury |
Kevin Sampsell |
03-13-2008 |
Fiction
Hipsters Add John Brandon to Your Reading Listnew
His first book, Arkansas, has just been released by the McSweeney's Rectangulars imprint.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
03-13-2008 |
Fiction
For the Love of Moneynew
Lydia Millet's sixth novel, How the Dead Dream, opens with an unforgettable image: A young boy named T. is so entranced by money that he purses coins in his mouth, as if to absorb the currency's mysterious power.
The Portland Mercury |
Chas Bowie |
03-06-2008 |
Fiction
Creepy Not Scarynew
Not quite good enough to be entirely interesting and not quite scary enough to be... well, all that scary, Duma Key is a weird book.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
02-28-2008 |
Fiction
Peter Carey Examines the Democratic National Convention of 1968new
But Carey's book is less about the events of the period than about its immediate consequences; about what happens when rich kids go revolutionary; about those who create tidal changes, and those who, through naivete or weakness, are swept up in them.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
02-21-2008 |
Fiction
Yes, It's a Werewolf Booknew
In Toby Barlow's surprising first novel, contemporary Los Angeles is secretly inhabited by packs of men who can, at will, transform themselves into dogs.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
02-14-2008 |
Fiction
Men Bitch About Womennew
Anthologies can be kind of repetitive, but the credentials of editor Ben Karlin combined with the book's impressive list of contributors (Andy Richter, Stephen Colbert, Neal Pollack, and more) piqued my interest all the same.
The Portland Mercury |
Justin W. Sanders |
02-08-2008 |
Fiction
'The Delivery Man': Balls-out Scarynew
Joe McGinniss Jr.'s characters live in the epitome of a moral morass—Las Vegas—but these twentysomething desert rats are searching for a way out. Their efforts make for a fast-paced read, full of scares, gross-outs, and waste.
The Portland Mercury |
Courtney Ferguson |
02-01-2008 |
Fiction
Jonathan Messinger's Cringe-Lit and Morenew
His style in the 15 stories that make up Hiding Out doesn't change much, but each story accomplishes a lingering pang that makes them all feel like individual showcases.
The Portland Mercury |
Kevin Sampsell |
12-20-2007 |
Fiction
English Speakers, Meet Tetsuo Miuranew
More than four decades after its original release, Miura's novel has been translated into English for the first time, introducing Western audiences not only to one of Japan's most revered writers.
The Portland Mercury |
Chas Bowie |
11-29-2007 |
Fiction
'Famous Writers School' Offers Chucklesnew
Steven Carter's novel zooms in on the fictional correspondence between an inept Famous Writers teacher and his three ragtag pupils.
The Portland Mercury |
Chas Bowie |
11-08-2007 |
Fiction
'McSweeney's 24': Gorgeous, As Alwaysnew
One half of the new McSweeney's consists entirely of a tribute to the postmodern master of short fiction, the late, great Donald Barthelme, with recollections by friends, colleagues, and admirers such as George Saunders, Ann Beattie, Robert Coover, and Lawrence Weschler.
The Portland Mercury |
Chas Bowie |
11-01-2007 |
Fiction
