In May 2012, Marina Keegan had a lot to look forward to. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale, had a play being produced at the New York International Fringe Festival, and lined up a job at The New Yorker. Just before she graduated, Marina wrote an essay titled “The Opposite of Loneliness.” Five days after receiving her diploma, Marina died in a car crash. She was 22 years old. “We’re so young. We’re so young.” Marina wrote in her final essay. “We’re twenty-two years […]
I’d hang out with Bigfoot around a campfire. He seems like a cool dude.
This is a fun little novella/short story collection set in the Dresdenverse. Three linked short stories are included here, taking place at varying times throughout Harry’s history. “B is for Bigfoot” takes place after Fool Moon, “I Was a Teenage Bigfoot” occurs after Dead Beat, and “Bigfoot on Campus” is sandwiched between Turn Coat and Changes, so the Harry in this collection is the Harry from Before, still working as a wizard PI. All in all, I found this book to be a fun, light […]
A brief visit to New Crobuzon and other exotic locales
Books of short stories are always hard to review, and China Mieville books are also hard to review, so I’m not sure how much I have to say about this one. I love China, and his books always make me think, and he’s amazing at atmosphere. He’s in this weird in-between limbo where I’d almost call him one of my favorite authors, but none of his actual books would make my favorites books list. I’ve been spacing out and savoring his stuff since I discovered him two Cannonballs […]
Keys and Locks
This collection of short stories by Helen Oyeyemi is a mix of fairy tale and the modern world, of the fanciful and the dark, with a generous portion of sexuality thrown in. In some ways, it reminds me of Angela Carter’s work, but Oyeyemi’s stories, while dealing with heavy themes such as betrayal, abandonment and disappointment, maintain a lightness. Her characters demonstrate a quality that’s not exactly optimism, but a willingness to carry on, a good natured fatalism that tempers the darkness. The nine stories […]