artists

Mary Gordon’s Spending: A Different Breed of Fantasy Lit

Mary Gordon’s Spending: A Different Breed of Fantasy Lit

Several years back, I read a book that was unlike nearly any other I’d read before in one striking way: nothing particularly bad happened in it. The protagonist experienced minor internal struggles and dilemmas, but basically, everything came up roses. This felt like a major departure from Great Literature as I knew it…

Review: THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett
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Review: THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett

The Versions of Us Laura Barnett Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 2016 416 pp; $26.00 Buy: hardcover | eBook The Versions of Us, Laura Barnett’s tapestry romance, is in many ways Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings” fleshed into a full-novel. The novel’s main style device employs just what the title promises: three versions of the same pair,…

Giving, Not Taking: Expectations of Author Interactions

Giving, Not Taking: Expectations of Author Interactions

In 2009, I was at the annual AWP conference in Chicago, heading into a panel session about flash fiction. Coming out of the room from the last session was Audrey Niffenegger who, even without her name tag, would have been distinguishable by her auburn hair. “Excuse me,” I said. “Did you write The Time Traveler’s…