Twilight of the Superheroes

By Deborah Eisenberg

Although I found the stories interesting and well written, it still felt like something was missing. I know the author is considered as someone who has mastered the art of short fiction, but a lot of the stories, to me, seemed more like epxressed opinions (with which I do agree) than actual storytelling. I guess lack of plot was the most prominent. The ideas were there, and they were good. The protagonists had desires and wishes. But it didn't seem like they were going anywhere with them. Some stories were more like that than others. Revenge of the Dinosaurs was the hardest for me to follow, probably because it didn't follow the usual dialog conventions, and it wasn't always clear when the narrator was saying something or simply narrating. [225 pp.]

Link to book.

Fantasy & Science Fiction - Oct/Nov 1991

This does not belong in my regular to-read list, but I needed a book, and it was available. Turns out it's not that far from my kind of readings... I was surprised that it didn't contain much of specific sci-fi/fantasy jargon that was unfamiliar to me. Some stories did have some fantastical aspect to them, especially the first one, The Honeycrafters, by Carolyn Ives Gilman, and the last one, Gasoline Lake, by Marc Laidlaw. Still, they were easily readable to a non-sci-fi reader such as myself. I liked most of the stories. Even the one that was pretty intense, by Bradley Denton - Rerun Roy, Donna, and the Freak. [240 pp.]

Link to book.

Tin House 34

Volume 9, Number 2

Favorites: Uncertainty, by Joshua Ferris, Going to Estonia, by Caitlin Horrocks, and Shawn Vestal's The First Several Hundred Years Following My Death. Also need to check out Charle's Baxter's The Soul Thief, as the excerpt is quite intriguing.

Link to website.