Occasional Literary Magazine Reviews: Lungfull!

Title: Lungfull! Magazine fine writing + rough drafts Issue 21 $11.95 Theme: The Ecstacy of Deceit. That’s what it says on the spine and is the title of an essay by the editor, Brendan Lorber. Featured names on the (back)cover: Everyone listed in the book is listed on the backcover. There are like 50 names or more. What: This is mostly a poetry magazine and it includes images of rough drafts. Usually these are scribbles and longhand writing. Actually, if […]

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Occasional Literary Magazine Reviews: Frieze

Title: frieze contemporary art & culture No. 156 June, July, August 2013 Theme: The Fiction Issue Featured Names on the Cover: Gregory Sholette & Christopher Darling; Ben Lerner, Katie Kitamura, Omer Fast, Lynne Tillman What: This is an art magazine. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this magazine. I picked up because of the graphic novel cover and the words “The Fiction Issue.”

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Nine Amazing Quotes from that Massive VQR Essay by Richard Nash

The Spring edition of the Virginia Quarterly Review contains a gob of unrelenting lit crit about the business of literature. The following are 9 great quotes from Richard Nash’s lead essay that comprehensively covers the history of book publishing and where it’s all going. Currently, Nash is doing great work with Small Demons and Red Lemon.ade. The full VQR essay can be read here.

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Answering Questions With Quotes: An Interview With Benjamin Lytal

“Thanks Josh.  Let me know if you want me to write a quick intro, to explain that these are quotes.  I don’t want to come off as too arch. Cheers.” That message is from Benjamin Lytal, just a few weeks ago in response to some questions I sent him for this website. He apparently didn’t want to answer the questions directly; that’s fine — I don’t think anything below was too groundbreaking and may border on trite in some places, […]

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My Year in Not Reading (Where Do I Start?)

  Tis the season of lists. Rare is the literary critic who waits until January to fully understand 2012. Instead, Thanksgiving is that marker, because t’s the kiss of death for a book to come out in December, rather than a critical achievement like it is with film. But alas, I have a problem with my list-making this year. I didn’t read enough. I can’t make a good list that has enough of the generally accepted “critically acclaimed” books peppered […]

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