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pearseanderson's review
4.0
This book got me through finals! I picked it up for free in a box outside of Dan Chaon's room in Oberlin College. They get a subscription, I think, or maybe Mudd does and they siphon that. Anyway, I like one my initial comments about this publication that I told my roommate Joe: "Like Paris Review with less quaaludes and more carpetry. Sometimes real iffy on the MFA domesticity style of some of the short stories."
And I'll stand by that, but it did hold its own. Really quite well, these stories managed to say a lot about humanity without a lot of conflict, and that can be frustrating, but I found myself flying by "Obsquies," "Throwing Out the Vizio Box," and "Moult" without trying. "Brown Smurf" and "Southwest Chief" were bunk for me, and "Undermining the Free Press" did nothing new at all, but, hey, you could tell smart people were behind them.
This issue of Glimmer Train is about those writers in their 30s who have observed the human condition and the migratory, sudden spirit of their peers and crafted those moments into stories. "Australian Thieves" is really good. "Late-Period Ruiz," the first out-of-university publication by Trevor Crown, blew me away. "You or a Loved One" dolled out character in great slices. But what took the cake was "Supernova" by Mary Kate Varnau. The piece was a heartbreaking and sharp portrayal of the Teenage Dream hit from the side by Chronic Illness that left me with a new fear and a new appreciation of life (and new respect for Varnau, who I had not read before).
So, cheers Glimmer Train. Yes, your work can be too domestic for my taste, but that's what epic science fiction is for, I guess.
And I'll stand by that, but it did hold its own. Really quite well, these stories managed to say a lot about humanity without a lot of conflict, and that can be frustrating, but I found myself flying by "Obsquies," "Throwing Out the Vizio Box," and "Moult" without trying. "Brown Smurf" and "Southwest Chief" were bunk for me, and "Undermining the Free Press" did nothing new at all, but, hey, you could tell smart people were behind them.
This issue of Glimmer Train is about those writers in their 30s who have observed the human condition and the migratory, sudden spirit of their peers and crafted those moments into stories. "Australian Thieves" is really good. "Late-Period Ruiz," the first out-of-university publication by Trevor Crown, blew me away. "You or a Loved One" dolled out character in great slices. But what took the cake was "Supernova" by Mary Kate Varnau. The piece was a heartbreaking and sharp portrayal of the Teenage Dream hit from the side by Chronic Illness that left me with a new fear and a new appreciation of life (and new respect for Varnau, who I had not read before).
So, cheers Glimmer Train. Yes, your work can be too domestic for my taste, but that's what epic science fiction is for, I guess.
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