Reviewers (see
Contributors page):
MC
- Mark Cunningham; WC - Weston Cutter;
DE - Devon Ellington;
JG - Jamey Gallagher; JHG - Jeannine Hall Gailey; GK - Gina Kokes;
RL -
Reb Livingston;
DM - Deborah Mead;
SRP - Sarah R. Payne;
JP -
Jessica Powers; SR - Sima Rabinowitz;
ST
- Sarah Tarkington; Contributing Editor:
DH -
Denise Hill
Posted April 17, 2004
Swink
Number 1
2004
My background for loving art is completely pop-music based, so of course
some aspect of me is eternally High Fidelity bound to rank and list
and award and order all that I read. It is in this vein that I have to be
completely, over-the-top hyperbolic and reverent and honest: Swink is
certainly the best new literary magazine of the year, and if the last few
years hadn’t been so great (One Story, Land-Grant College Review,
further back to McSweeneys and Tin House) this journal would
take the prize for best in a few years. Okay, why the lauding? First: poems
from Bob Hicok, Cathryn Essinger’s “Fog”, Misty Harper’s “11 Years Old &”
and “Slips of the Eye.” Chris Offut’s “Maybe DeLillo is There!” Charles
D’Ambrosio’s “Doo-Wop Down the Road: Richard Brautigan,” and David Ulin’s
“One-Hit Wonder.” Good god, just to get his name more and more in print: the
interview with Adam Haslett. Notice I’ve not even touched fiction yet. Of
which there’s very much too much to say. Andrew Foster Altschul, wherever
you are, someone owes you a beer; Margaret Malone’s “Sailing Alone Around
the World” is devastating and breathtaking, and if you read Deirdre Shaw’s
“The Summertime Party” without wanting to be friends with her you need to
find out what your heart’s made of. Still, though, it gets better: I can
only presume and hope the Swink set will continue with what they’re
calling, perfectly, Damaged Darlings, collaborative stories between two
authors. One author with a work that’s loved but neglected, unfinished,
hands the work-in-progress to another author, who finishes it, reworks it,
brings a new breath. The results are fucking brilliant, to be blunt, and
both stories within, David Hollander and Nelly Reifler’s “Whatever We Were
Beforehand” and Amy Bloom and Chris Offutt’s “I Was Dancin’ with My Darlin’”
work as stories, as mysteries (which author wrote what?), as strange and
beautiful harmonies. Seriously, buy the magazine. Send Swink your
money and gratitude. Pray for Volume 2. [Swink, 244 Fifth Ave. #2722, New
York, NY 10001. Single issue $8.
http://www.swinkmag.com/index.html] - WC
Shenandoah
Volume 53, Number 4
Winter 2003
Reliably excellent, Shenandoah delivers in this issue all that you
expect – big names, solid writing, earnest essays – an overall package
flavored with its slight regional tang. However, let it not be said that
Shenandoah clings to the “merely” regional, as writers from farther
afield – including, in this issue, Marvin Bell, David Wagoner, and Mary
Oliver – crop up on a regular basis. In this issue, besides the usual
offerings, you’ll find the AWP Intro Journals Project Award winners in
fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
A surprise I found within these august pages was the short, charmingly
fresh essay “On Rejection” (a subject, sadly, near and dear to my own heart)
by Bret Anthony Johnston, comparing the writer trying to get published with
the beginning skateboarder trying not to eat pavement - an analogy I don’t
hear often enough in classrooms. His quotations from various rejection slips
were hilarious and will be strangely familiar to any aspiring writer.
I also loved the art work by Suzanne Stryk, which featured feathers,
nests and other bird-related artifacts in symbolic patterns and displays.
[Shenandoah, Washington and Lee University, Troubadour Theater, 2nd Floor,
Box W, Lexington, VA 24450-0303. E-mail: rodsmith@wlu.edu.
http://shenandoah.wlu.edu] – JHG
Yale
Review
Volume 92, Number 1
January/February 2004
High-toned and academic, I can rely on the Yale Review to update
me on the latest theories about contemporary opera, dance and art, as well
as literature. The poetry and prose here are fairly traditional in form and
erudite (bone up on your mythology before reading) yet rewarding. One story
that stood out for me was “The Wedding Gown” by Jean McGarry, which starts
with the fascinating image of organic wedding cake: “Mary had forgotten
about the cake with its collection of indigestible grains and grasses,
uncured sugars…Organic was never white; it was always brown, gray, tan,
gray-green; even the fruit was flawed and grim.” - and continues in a highly
engrossing and original vein about two affianced young people coming to know
one another more intimately. As usual, the reviews and essays on poetics
forward thoughts about current literary issues. One that I read with
particular interest was Craig Arnold’s “Poetry in Review,” which laments the
“autopoetic” tendency of much of today’s verse – that is, the writing of
poetry that is of interest, for the most part, only to one’s self – and
shares this thoughts on two poets he thinks write against this tendency –
the odd pairing of narrative poet Tony Hoagland and lyric Olena Kalytiak
David. An issue to be savored at leisure, and with your thinking cap
securely fastened. [The Yale Review, Yale University, PO Box 208243, New
Haven, CT 06520-8243. Single issue $9.
www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/yr] - JHG
Calyx
Volume 31, Number 3
Winter 2004
In this issue of the feminist (and I use that term in the best possible
way) journal Calyx, fertility, childbirth and motherhood are
recurrent themes, in pieces such as the poems “Your Underwear Showing,”
“Womb of Womanhood,” “Rags of the Moon” and prose pieces “Rest Stop” and
“Forfeiting Motherhood.” I was especially drawn to the story “The Adeline
Shop,” by Helen Alene Pollack, about a woman reunited with her grandfather,
who, after abandoning his wife and daughter, has drifted into almost
mythical status by the time he is found unexpectedly. The art work is
Calyx always ranges from charming to astounding; this issue (and cover
art) showcases the surreal work of Mary Josephson, whose paintings of women,
often surrounded by symbolic objects such as snakes and fruit, might draw
comparisons to Frida Kahlo, as her work has a similar ability to draw you
into the inner life of the painter. But Josephson’s ability to conjure
serene and pensive character into the faces of her women is all her own.
[Calyx, PO Box B, Corvallis, OR 97339. E-mail: calyx@proaxis.com. Single
issue $9.50.
http://www.proaxis.com/~calyx/journals.html] – JHG
Northwest Review
Volume 42, Number 1
2004
This issue of the Eugene, Oregon-based Northwest Review is heavy
on short fiction and light on poetry, which I, as a poet with
poetry-advocacy issues, must disapprove of. However, the fiction and essays
are quite lively, including Michael Mattes’ wonderful “Miles and Miles”
about a frustrated comic book artist attending a wedding in Chicago. For you
fans of poetry in translation, there are several pieces of the work of the
remarkable revolutionary Qiu Jin, translated by David Lunde and Audrey
Heijns. Here, the last couplet of her poem “Inscription on a Photo of Myself
in Man’s Attire”: “When you see my friends from former days, / please tell
them I swept the dust off the floating world.” Of interest here as well is
an interview with memoirist and novelist Kim Barnes, often characterized as
a “Western” writer – juxtaposed amusingly with the scenes of the Wild West –
staged with toy horses and cowboys – by photographer David Levinthal.
[Northwest Review, 369 PLC New Line, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403.
E-mail: jwitte@oregon.uoregon.edu. Single issue $8.
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~nwreview/] - JHG
Fence
Volume 6, Number 2
Fall/Winter 2003-2004
For a magazine justly famous for pioneering the way for experimental
verse, Fence displays a surprisingly delicate balance of avant-garde
and traditional work, with poets ranging from Mary Ruefle to Nancy Kuhl to
Ray DiPalma. So, those of you who shun the hip pyrotechnics of the cutting
edge, do not be scared away; see as evidence these opening lines from the
wonderful “Mr. Mann Finds a Photograph of Daedalus”: “He had always believed
the old stories. / Wolves in the forest. Children eating / candy houses. The
savage etiquette / of queens…” This must surely be declared a fine poem no
matter what your poetic preferences. The fiction chosen also showcases a
range of diverse voices, including the whimsical and melancholy “Nine
Attempts at a Life” by Danielle Dutton. This issue also includes the
interesting “Cubism, the Blues, Visions: A Conversation” between Alice
Notley and Edmund Berrigan. Also featured is a rambling yet entertaining
review by Rodney Phillips of all the poetry books published in one year. The
essay made me wince at times for the victims (“…BOA Editions, which – except
for Michael Teig’s first book, Big Back Yard – wins the most boring
award…” Ouch!), yet props must be given for tackling a task that seems
Herculean. Phillips cleverly highlights as many good books as possible in
top-ten-style with list names like “Best Books by Emerging Writers” and
“Most Beautiful Books” - unconventional but useful. [Fence, 303 East Eighth
Street, #B1, New York, New York 10009. E-mail: fence@angel.net. Single
issue $8. http://www.fencemag.com] –
JHG
Glimmer
Train
Issue 50
Spring 2004
If you’re looking for perfect prose, look no further. This journal of
short fiction has achieved a solid reputation in the literary field for good
reason. There’s not a clunker among these thirteen stories, each sentence
elegant, each nuance carefully explored. To be sure, we are in familiar
territory here—the protagonists populating these pages are coping with
mostly standard problems like parental mortality and marital difficulties.
But the writers in this issue explore this terrain so lovingly and knowingly
that the lack of novelty becomes a virtue, like spending an evening with an
old friend. It’s in the exquisite rendering of small moments that these
master storytellers shine. Daniel Villasenor gives us one such moment in “To
a Stranger”: “Now he could not remember the last time he had made love to
her, and the thought of that would enter him as a train approaches a tunnel
and enters and rushes forth, blotting out the light of day, and with its
insufferable clamor, all sound and sense and recognition […] He stood as the
thought, in all its violent and remorseless inarticulation, entered and
passed through him, rocked back on his heels by the wake of it.” Moment by
memorable moment, Glimmer Train puts together a quiet but wonderful
evening of reading. [Glimmer Train Press, Inc., 1211 NW Glisan St., Ste.
207, Portland, OR 07209-3054. E-mail: eds@glimmertrain.com. Single issue
$12.
http://www.glimmertrain.com/] – DM
The Georgia Review
Volume 57, Number 4
Winter 2003
The Georgia Review represents a conservative, old-guard-style
approach to literature, and the names of contributors are among some of the
most elite in the literary world – Richard Howard and Michael Collier among
them. While nothing in this issue will shock you, The Georgia Review
represents very fine work. In this issue, I particularly liked the art work
of Treacy Ziegler, “Fables of Light,” represented in color, which evoked a
cold and desolate depth in her landscapes. Judith Kitchen’s essay/review of
recent poetry anthologies, “Anthologizing – the Good, the Bad, and the
Indifferent,” was another highlight. With her amusing quibbles and
forthright opinions (On Billy Collins’ Poetry 180: “Still, here’s
what I’d say to Billy Collins and to the students who have, because of him,
turned back to poetry. Many poems speak to the human condition, not the
adolescent condition. Read them.” On Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems:
“In trying so hard to be populist, Good Poems offers up a lot of
pablum.”), Kitchen sounds something like a brisk but slightly cranky
schoolmarm rapping the knuckles of errant anthologizers. Which, let’s face
it, is enjoyable, because no reader, including you and me, ever completely
agrees with the choices of any anthology’s editors. [The Georgia Review, The
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-9009. E-mail: garev@uga.edu.
Single issue $9.
http://www.uga.edu/~garev/index.htm] - JHG
Beloit Poetry Journal
Volume 54, Number 3
Spring 2004
Beloit Poetry Journal excels at showcasing fresh voices with
original and sometimes difficult things to say. They never exhibit the
mediocre or merely pleasant, and I think that is a particularly trustworthy
(and brave) stance for a journal’s editors. The dark side of sexuality and
language is explored in this issue of the predictably good Beloit Poetry
Journal, in poems like the exceedingly creepy “Molester” by Jeff
Crandall and the delicate but heart-wrenching “Helen Keller Dying in Her
Sleep” by Julianna Baggott. These poems are disturbing – in a good way.
You’ll see what I mean in lines like these from K.I. Press’s “Born in the
Parliament Buildings”: “As Speaker, Father seldom spoke. Sometimes he wore
me under his robes, and smuggled me into the chamber. At first, when I was
tiny, under his wig…Before, he brought my mother there, at night…They made
love in the Prime Minister’s chair, inside the same enormous robe...The
walls are red, the ground is red, the swords are falling all around me.”
This issue did not feature any of the unusually sharp book reviews common to
BPJ, which were missed. [Beloit Poetry Journal, P.O. Box 151,
Farmington, ME 04938. E-mail: sharkey@maine.edu. Single issue $5.
http://www.bpj.org] - JHG
Sewanee Review
Volume 111, Number 3
Summer 2003
The Sewanee Review, for those of you not familiar, is one of the
bastions, along with the Southern Review, of regional literary
culture in the South and one of the reasons people talk about “Southern
writers.” I always read the essays in the Sewanee Review with as much
interest as the featured poetry and fiction because they stand out as
vibrant and gripping. This issue is no exception, with lively essays on the
poetry and lives of poets John Berryman (“Speaking in Tongues: John Berryman
and the Lure of Obscurity” by Stephen Minot) and Edna St. Vincent Millay
(“Edna St. Vincent Millay: A Literary Phenomenon” by Benjamin Griffith).
While the work here is, for the most part, fairly traditional (which is not
to insult, but merely an observation), I thought the short prose piece
“Letter from Persephone” by Marisa Bulgheroni was particularly inventive. I
also enjoyed the poem by Baron Wormser called “Inspections,” about children
watching their mother clean the kitchen with obsessive vigor. [The Sewanee
Review, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, Tennessee 37383-1000. E-mail:
jpatters@sewanee.edu. Single issue $8.
http://www.sewanee.edu/sreview/home.html] - JHG
Alligator Juniper
Volume 33, Number 2
2003
This annual journal of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and photography,
published out of the Prescott College for the Liberal Arts and the
Environment, presents fresh voices that in this edition tend to focus on
issues of social justice and responsibility, including, of course,
environmental issues. I especially liked Susan Thomas’ poem “To Anna
Karenina,” in which the speaker addresses and compares herself to Tolstoy’s
famous tragic heroine, and Jendi Reiter’s poem “Hansel and Gretel: The
Mother Speaks,” in which the speaker justifies to herself her decision to
kill her children. Here are some lines from the end of that poem: “And
sometimes even the queens abandon their own: / the children too beautiful or
too deformed…are left on the hillside to die, / or locked away in towers /
where their feet never touch the earth, and the sun / never lays its coins
on their eyes – / because there’s not enough room / in this story for all of
us.” Also a standout: Mark Liedel’s photograph “Milkweed,” which
communicated eerie transcendence in the bursting of a milkweed pod. I found
the emotional investment in much of the work here a refreshing jolt after
reading the multitudes of more jaded, detached writers. I have found another
journal to add to my must-read list. [Alligator Juniper, 220 Grove Avenue,
Prescott, AZ 86301. E-mail: aj@prescott.edu. Single issue $7.50.
http://www.prescott.edu/highlights/alligator_juniper.html] – JHG
The Los Angeles Review
Issue 1
January 2004
This new literary magazine, by the same people who run independent Red
Hen Press, brings to life the vibrant literary scene of L.A. (Yes, you read
that right – vibrant literary scene, L.A.) with an offbeat charm. By design,
the editors differ from issue to issue in order to foster diverse work - so
the poetry and fiction chosen for this issue may not reflect on future
issues. In this issue, anyway, the quality of the work is pretty impressive.
A standout is the story “Hailstones on Samfara” by Sefi Atta, which won the
Red Hen 2003 Short Fiction Award. Here is a sampling of lines from Suzanne
Lummis’ “Last Reports from the Gondola Suspended by Balloons”: “…In all the
world there’s just one / Japanese piano tuner gazing down / on the Pacific
from a gondola / help up by balloons. I am the last / possibility that has
not been exhausted.” Good production quality – a glossy color cover, a nice
overall heft and clean, easy-to-read type face – should be noted as well.
Definitely an auspicious beginning for a journal I hope continues to be a
beacon for neglected West Coast talent. [The Los Angeles Review, Red Hen
Press, P.O. Box 3537, Granada Hills, CA 91394. E-mail: lareview@redhen.org. Single issue: $14.
http://www.redhen.org/losangelesreview/] – JHG
Hotel Amerika
Volume 2 Number 1
Fall 2003
The eerie black and white cover photograph ("Drunken
Dream, Fatigue, 1936" by Koishi Kiyoshi) of Hotel Amerika sets the
self-conscious tone for this issue. Only the sophomore issue from this new
publication out of Ohio University, it includes poetry, fiction,
translations and essays from a broad mix of emerging, mid-career and mature
poets. The poetry is what truly stands out, such the poems by Josh Bell,
Tony Hoagland, Larissa Szporluk, Piotr Gwiadzda, and Lee Upton, varying in
styles and subject matter, but all quite memorable. From Upton's
surrealistic "The Hedge": "You without a reputation worth / protecting /
behind the hedge. // A unicorn goring a maiden / behind a hedge." This issue
is a keeper for any reader's journal library. [Hotel Amerika, Department of
English, 360 Ellis Hall, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701. Single issue $9.
http://www.hotelamerika.net/] – RL
River Styx
Issue 66
Fall 2003
In the “Route 66” issue, River Styx succeeds in its “homage to
that lingering spirit of the road” with poems (by Gaylord Brewer, Walt
McDonald, Nancy Krygowski, Rafael Campo, among others), short fiction,
essays, illustrations and photography. These lively pieces concentrate on
the vast subject matter encountered during automobile travel around the
United States. Anyone who’s done a family beach trip down south on 95 can
relate to the disappointment in Lori Jakiela’s essay, “South of the Border,”
upon stopping at the heavily bill-boarded tourist trap by the same name.
Jeffrey Hammond’s essay, “My Life at the Comfort Inn,” is a skillful and
amusing telling of what it’s like to spend half a week at the same motel for
eight years straight. This issue demonstrates that there’s much one can
experience and confront while en route, which sometimes can be more
significant than arriving at the destination. [River Styx, 634 North Grand
Boulevard, Twelfth Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63103. Single issue $7. http://www.riverstyx.org]
- RL
The Chatahoochee Review
Volume 24 Number 1
Fall 2003
The Chatahoochee Review has put out a sparkling issue, with
dazzling poems and evocative nonfiction. In "Swimming at Sounion" (in the
Greek headlands), Stephan Malin paints a work of stunning description,
creating the sensation of swimming through clear water surrounded by
blueness. "Conjuring the Whole Note" by M. Ayodele Heath winds its way down
the page like the trip of fingers down the keyboard. Meanwhile, "Song of the
Short-Necked Woman" by Capers Limehouse is evocative and unusual, commanding
the reader's sympathy with each word. While works of fiction are absent from
this collection, readers will never miss them. Creative nonfiction piece
abound, such as "Twenty-nine" by Carla Panciera. In this piece, the author
tells the story of the most obnoxious, ill-tempered, and stubborn cow her
family owned, while showing a great deal about her father and her family
with their quiet determination to succeed. "Recalling Cody" by Michael
Bishop is a memoir, bringing the author's dearest mentor and family friend
back to life through astounding personal details. All of the pieces in this
journal are warm and descriptive, reaching out and pulling the reader into
the world of imagination. [The Chatahoochee Review, 2101 Womack Road,
Dunwoody, Georgia 30338-4497. Single issue $6.
http://www.chattahoochee-review.org/] - VF
StoryQuarterly
Issue 39
2003
StoryQuarterly, an annual lit mag out of Chicago, is a tome of
pure fiction that, if somewhat uneven, is never dissatisfying. The stories
here range from minutely crafted and often beguiling flash fictions to
virtual novellas. Then too you’ll find translations, such as Amy Schildhouse
Greenberg’s interpretations of Mexican writer Angeles Mastretta’s “Tia”
vignettes. And finally StoryQuarterly 39 features an intriguing black
& white photo essay by photographer Christy Karpinski. Even with such a
scope of material, no single genre feels crowded for space, since this issue
weighs in at 500-plus pages. Only a handful of stories seem somewhat
ill-contrived, but they are couched in a body of such fine work that you
choose not to notice. Among the gems are Michael Knight’s “Smash and Grab,”
the tale of a civilized burglar caught up in the teenage angst of a spoiled
but under-loved girl out to teach her wealthy parents a lesson, and Michael
Poore’s “Chief Next Lightning’s Phantom Hand,” which is so rich with sad
humor, so lovingly wrought, that it delivers full-force the bittersweet,
fleeting pleasure of the short story at its most perfect. Dan O’Brien’s
“Apocrypha” is also fine, adeptly handling the quirks and diversions of
memory lent to the aims of story. [StoryQuarterly, 431 Sheridan Rd.,
Kenilworth, IL 60043. Single issue $10.
http://www.storyquarterly.com] -
MC
Call: Review
Number One
2004
Clearly I can’t claim that Call is, as well, the best damn debut
of the year, but an argument can and should be made that: 1. It’s very, very
good, with some brilliant work within (this means you T. R. Hummer); 2. All
this neighing about the poor state of the literary condition seem, if not
exaggerated, then at least nonsensical: if Call and Swink can
both debut, we’re all fine. Call is slim and elegant and totally
boundless, as in: the contributors within aren’t the ones at coffee shops or
dinner parties arguing that form dictates function. Stephen Dixon has two
stories that, like most of his latest work, seem breathless and so condensed
as to be supersaturated. The aforementioned T. R. Hummer’s poetry, along
with a great sampling of others—Jordan Davis, Fiona Templeton, Timothy Liu,
and Medbh McGuckian, all have comet-bright poetry within—pushes the journal
down a markedly poetry heavy road. And all that isn’t poetry—the excerpt
from Carla Harryman’s “Mirror Play,” for instance—carries a sort of poetic
DNA of incantation and sound, meaning: every single thing in here could be
brilliantly read aloud. Be the first at your local independent to pick this
up and read for everyone. [Call: Review, JB Pinker, Inc., 908 Amsterdam
Ave., #3A, New York, NY 10025. Single issue $7.
http://www.callreview.net] - WC
Oyez Review
Number 31
Winter 2003/04
This is a very fine literary journal. It has solid, considered and
considerable writing throughout, the presentation is clean, there’s a great
section of photography in the middle, there’s a good balance of poetry and
prose, there’s no one single style to force an analysis of what type of
writing is being championed. It’s good. There are some pushes, too, of
course, into stranger and murkier corners. Heather Corrigan’s nonfiction
“Ordinary Assassins” made me sweat in good and bad ways, Sean Padraic
"McCarthy’s Rabbits" made me never ever want to drink too much again, and
Emily Morganti’s “Story of O” is perfectly hot and shockingly cold in such
quick succession it’s jarring. The poetry, throughout, is calmly beautiful,
a total shift if one’s on the hunt for more Matthea Harvey, for example,
though that’s not necessarily a bad thing: Willie James King, Michael H.
Brownstein, and Mary Crow all jumped out and knocked me down, and a
rereading brought more to the category. [Oyez Review, Roosevelt University,
430 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605. Single issue $4.
http://www.roosevelt.edu/oyezreview/] - WC
On
Spec
Volume 15 Number 4
Winter 2003
This little journal is subheaded “The Canadian Magazine of the
Fantastic,” and the absolute best praise I can give is that I’m vehemently
not a fantasy reader, but pretty much every story I opened to in the
magazine kept me reading all the way through. On Spec maybe should be
required reading for all literary writers who, as Michael Chabon wrote last
year (in the intro for McSweeneys 11), like to finish their stories
and leave them “glistening with epiphanic dew.” There are no Updike or
Carver or Munro stories within On Spec: plot alone would take any of
those guys out of the running in the first paragraph. What we have instead
of quiet, earnest stories are stories about people who send themselves
through the London mail, racing each other the whole way; two terrifying
short shorts by a woman named Catherine MacLeod; a story about the world
after oxygen is gone. Another thing: you will find no boringly named
characters in this journal. The journal’s heavily tilted toward prose (a
single poem), and I don’t know how much sense it makes to talk about the
feel of a literary magazine, or what feel it may evoke in a reader, but for
all its craziness and whim and fantasy, this journal made me believe, again,
and made me glad to believe: anything that pushes the boundaries that far
out and away seems, to me, always worth it. [On Spec, P.O. Box 4727,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6E 5G6. Single issue $5.95.
http://www.onspec.ca/] - WC
Five Points
Volume 8, Number 1
Special Fiction Issue
The quiet, simple beauty of Paula Eubanks’ black and white photographs
featured in this issue tells you all you need to know about the fiction
you’ll find here. These are high-quality stories, told in clear, confident,
but unadorned prose. This issue opens with “Black is the Color of My True
Love’s Hair” by Alice Hoffman, with strongly depicted characters and a keen
sense of place: “I could place a single blade of eelgrass between my fingers
and whistle so loudly the oysters buried in the mud would spit at us.” In
“An Only Child,” Julia Lamb Stemple gives us a heartbreaking look at a boy’s
ambivalence towards growing up: “He wanted to hold himself close to [his
babysitter] again but thought that she didn’t want him to, and something
seemed to come loose inside him. He looked over at the triangle of shadow
between the ficus and the entertainment center where he had been hiding and
saw that she must have known he was there all the time.” Traditional stories
like these anchor this journal, and truly they are masterful. Too much of a
good thing can be cloying, however, and the editors wisely enliven this
issue with a few offbeat selections. Michael Knight defies our expectations
about believable characters and motivations in “Midnight at the Admiral
Semmes,” where bizarre characters cavort joylessly on New Year’s Eve. And in
“Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain,” George Garrett bares the
fiction writer’s art, and artifice, as he discusses his choices for
characterization in the course of telling the story. Yet his characters,
also writers, are themselves engaged in the American middle-class obsession
with “defining and redefining themselves.” While Five Points remains
traditional at heart, the edgier pieces provide a balance that keeps this
well regarded journal feeling fresh. [Five Points, MSC 8R0318, Georgia State
University, 33 Gilmer St. SE, Unit 8, Atlanta, GA 30303-3083.
Single issue $7.
http://www.webdelsol.com/Five_Points] - DM
NewPages Literary Magazine Stand Archives
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December
2003
November
2003
October 2003
September
2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
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