Told in sequential first-person interview-style narrative, a colourful cast of characters reveals the tale of New Yorker Shawn Regal’s murder by horse tranquilizer four days after his marriage to the murderess, Brenda Bernstein. Brenda admits on page one—in fact, sentence one—that she killed him. The whole truth of the matter won’t reveal itself until much…

In a small scene in the very last story of Mary Costello’s most elegant collection, The China Factory, a retiring schoolteacher is being driven to the very party meant to celebrate her long career. She is a curious and wonderful fictional character in that her past includes a painful, transformative event that has shaped every…

Notes from the Committee, Catherine Kasper’s slim volume from Noemi Press, begins with a manual-like, elaborate table of contents. The contents might well stand alone as a piece and should be read through. Because if you don’t, you’ll miss part of what Kasper has done—remember it is a slim volume—and you don’t want to be…

Not all of the narrators of the stories in Jailed have been to jail. But they’ve all been in jails. The distinction seems like it should be less complicated than it is. If you go to the Wikipedia page for American Prison Literature, you’ll see a quote that begins, “Prison has been a fertile setting…

“Art is free. However, it must conform to certain norms.” – Joseph Goebbels, Hotel Kaiserhof Berlin, 1927 Rather an ominous quotation with which to begin a novel, yet invoking Nazi Germany’s Minister of Propaganda and his horrifying vision of artistic freedom sets up a perfect frame for Jürgen Fauth’s début novel, Kino. Kino is a…

In simplest terms, the question with any book review is “should I read this book? Is it worth my time?” The answer: yes! The question might go a little deeper. Does this book do something for me? Again, yes! April Bernard’s Miss Fuller is a must-read if you’re a fan of historical fiction, a lover…

The Lola Quartet takes its name from a high school jazz band within the story. The quartet’s members are Jack, Daniel, Gavin and Sasha: four different instruments, four different voices. Like with all music, the success of a performed piece depends on the contrast, the rhythm and the eventual harmony or discord of these voices…

Matthew Kirkpatrick’s debut, Light without Heat, is a diverse and exciting collection of fiction. Formally engaged and innovative, the pieces employ erasure, collage, illustration, false glossaries, false histories, actual histories, and photographs. Yet, the works are held together by a consistent focus on humanity, on emotion, on striking images and poetic prose. Here the innovations…

If I had an ounce of poetic talent, I’d write about J.A. Tyler’s Variations of a Brother War by mimicking its form. I’d create this review out of bundles of stanzas, introducing each bundle with a stark and intriguing theme, and then I’d hypnotize you with unusual comparisons—I might call the book a bird whose…

Readers of the first collection of stories by David Appleby will already be familiar with “Moon Alley”, the poor neighbourhood of Philadelphia, with McFadden’s Saloon and the elevated railway, “an environment of abandonment“ (160). Half of the 14 stories in this new collection take place there too, detailing the impoverished lives of descendants of Irish…

Two words on this satirical novel: wild ride. The opening lines show what Warner does throughout the novel. I was playing footsie under the restaurant table with my girlfriend Lyllyan, while her father, Cal, tried to persuade me all kindergarteners should be trained in the use of handguns. Do Americans talk so loudly because they’re…

Flash fiction sits on a continuum between poetry and traditional narrative. Its only defining characteristic is its brevity. With no real minimum word count and a maximum hovering somewhere around 1000 words, flash fiction is about eliciting an instantaneous connection, a reaction, between the reader and an idea or image or feeling contained in each…