Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Fantastic Women: 18 Tales of the Surreal and the Sublime from Tin House


When your book is getting praise from the likes of Ursula K. Leguin and the writing within conjures up the ghost of Angela Carter’s writing, you know you have something really good on your hands.  Tin House is due to release Fantastic Women August 1st of this year, and I can say for certain that this blogger will be eagerly awaiting her copy. The book features 18 short stories that have an aura of the fantastic and surreal and an introduction by esteemed writer, Joy Williams.

Last week, Publisher’s Weekly wrote a mixed review of the book, but cited such highlights as:  “Karen Russell's "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach," Julia Elliott's "The Wilds," Gina Ochsner's "Song of the Selkie," and Stacey Richter's "The Doll Awakens,” saying these stories “Create compellingly weird and weirdly compelling narratives by forcing believable, specific characters to grapple with the unexplainable.”

Tin House also put up an interview  in their blog with contributing writer, Lucy Corin, asking her about her writing style and her inspiration for her story, “The Entire Predicament.”  It looks like this is only the first interview of many with the contributors to Fantastic Women, so check back on their blog every now and then if you want to see these fantastic women writers get their brains picked.

If you aren’t familiar with the writings of these authors and want to get a feel for their writing, Tin House has also put up an excerpt from Aimee Bender’s story “Americca” on their site.

No comments:

Post a Comment