As Though She Were SleepingElias Khoury (translated by Humphrey Davies)MacLehose Press, May 2011368 pages$23.83 This post was written by M. Lynx Qualey. Translator Humphrey Davies has called Elias Khoury’s 2007 novel, As Though She Were Sleeping, “one of the least linear books ever put down on paper.” The comment seems to signal both Davies’ frustration…
Today’s reader review comes from Daniel DiStefano, who looks at our Charles Baxter issue through the prism of lost youth, adolescent fantasies, and the thought process behind mixtapes. Ploughshares Fall 1999, guest edited by Charles Baxter.Featuring work by Jill Bossert, Antonya Nelson, and Michael Byers.233 pages, $10.95. In the fall of 1999, I was a…
Sometimes I daydream about putting together an anthology of my favorite short stories, kind of like a mix tape. Over the course of my blogging duties, I’m going to discuss a few of the stories that—from my experience—aren’t as familiar to readers. My Anthology: “Walking Out” By David Quammen I first encountered this story in…
We the Animals Justin Torres Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 125 pages $18.00 In We the Animals, Justin Torres demonstrates how crafting one tactile sentence after another can transform even the most ugly imaginations, experiences, and memories into a work beautiful to behold. In this debut semi-autobiographical novel, Torres asserts himself as a master of detail and…
Our second “innovators in literature” brings us into the world of Vouched Books, an organization devoted to promoting small press literature. I deeply admire founder Christopher Newgent’s proactive, passionate approach to spreading the word about books, the way he talks about the possibility of “setting up on the main party stretch here in Indy on…
Once again, it is that time of the week in which we offer a free issue of Ploughshares from our archives. This week, it’s our Winter 2001 – 2002 issue, guest edited by Jorie Graham and featuring a gamut of contributors. In order to win this issue, please comment in the space below explaining why…
Anima José Kozer (translated by Peter Boyle) Shearsman Books, February 2011 268 pages $20.00 José Kozer, one of the foremost Cuban poets of his generation, was born in Havana in 1940 to Jewish immigrants from Poland, and moved to the U.S. in 1960; Peter Boyle, his translator, is an award-winning Australian poet and translator, who…
Today’s reader review comes from one of our interns, Rhian Sasseen, who looks back on our Winter 1985 issue, guest edited by Stratis Haviaras with a focus on international writing. Ploughshares Winter 1985, guest edited by Stratis Haviaras.Featuring work by Italo Calvino, Raymond Carver, and Anna Akhmatova.268 pages, $20.00. At twenty-one we held dinner parties….
I stood in a bookstore next to an author whom I would describe as both famous and wonderful, and she patted a stack of her own books that sat on a table, prominently displayed. She smiled a little—a private smile. She looked at me, a bit embarrassed that I’d seen her, and said, “It’s still…
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