Tony Tulathimutte’s Private Citizens is a searing and savagely smart dissection of the life and opinions of a group of San Francisco millennials: bipolar autodidact Henrik, ruthless aspiring writer Linda, porn-addicted romantic Will, and hazily embattled activist Cory. With relentless intelligence and wit—and prose that’s earning comparisons to David Foster Wallace—Tulathimutte examines his characters’ anxieties and aspirations, vanities and self-hatreds, and the gap between private ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Nota Bene: Nat Baldwin Has Been Feeling the Bern Since, like, 2002
Nat Baldwin's been writing, performing, and recording music for virtually all of his adult life. In addition to playing bass in Dirty Projectors, Baldwin has recorded half a dozen solo records that put his upright bass and his vocal range on full and incredible display. Baldwin's also a fiction writer, and in the past two years, he's published stories in PANK, Timber, Alice Blue, and Sleepingfish, among other journals. Like his music, his stories present a complicated world populated by ... [READ MORE]
Web Exclusive Interview: Kyle Langston
Our January Web Exclusive, “Winston” is one of those stories that gets under your skin and stays there. Its power is owed to precise, enduring images; the relatable longing of its characters; and beginning-to-end tension. Really, it gave us a lot of feelings—which we then discussed with author Kyle Langston. Erin McReynolds: One thing I love about “Winston” is that it uses a very primal voice and lens to tell a modern story: how we “become” when we are claimed by others. The protagonist ... [READ MORE]
Bourbon and Milk: When the Mayhem Becomes Too Much
Bourbon and Milk is an ongoing series that dives into the perplexing spaces parenting sometimes pushes us, and explores the unexpected ways writers may grow in them. If you’re interested in joining the conversation or contributing a Bourbon and Milk post, query Giuseppe Taurino at: giuseppe [at] americanshortfiction.org. — Welcome to the third annual holiday edition of Bourbon and Milk. Once again, with a nod towards the thankfulness many of us associate with the holidays—a thankfulness ... [READ MORE]
That’s When Things Got Weird: A Conversation with Amber Sparks & Lincoln Michel
We've have had the pleasure of reading the work of Amber Sparks and Lincoln Michel for a number of years, and we've published work by each of them as web exclusives in the not-so-distant past. This fall, Michel published his debut collection of short fiction, Upright Beasts, and Sparks's next book, The Unfinished World, will be published in January. We recently emailed both authors to ask about their new books, their writerly obsessions, the year in publishing, and the best things they've read ... [READ MORE]
Web Exclusive Interview: Leslie Parry
Our December Web Exclusive, “The Night Bus,” beautifully elucidates the moment two lives intersect—lives forever changed by random acts of violence. We talked with author Leslie Parry about anonymity, anxiety, and a very effective antidote for procrastination. Erin McReynolds: Congratulations on your first novel, Church of Marvels, being released earlier this year! Both that story and “Night Bus” center on characters who are the forgotten and unseen players in the larger drama of the city. ... [READ MORE]