Consider, for a moment, the superb short story “Level,” a signature piece and the third in Elizabeth Genovise’s new collection of short stories, Palindrome (The University Press of SHSU) The fine finish carpenter’s son is dying and the doctors have said it’s best that he spend his remaining time at home. We know the carpenter’s […]
“This Vast Southern Empire,” by Matthew Karp
May 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl Few today would recognize the name George Washington Lafayette Bickley. He lived an adventurous life which included practicing medicine in Virginia although there’s evidence he lacked the credentials. His larger interests were Southern; in the late 1850s he traveled throughout the South promoting a militia campaign to seize Mexico. A […]
“Conjuror,” by Holly Sullivan McClure
October 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl Anyone driving east on Interstate 40 and crossing from Tennessee into western North Carolina will cross over U.S. Route 19 running roughly northeast-by-southwest. Near the intersection of Route 19 and U. S. Route 441 is the Oconaluftee River Valley and the Qualla Boundary land trust. The area has an interesting […]
“Miss Julia Inherits a Mess,” by Ann B. Ross
August 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl About a decade ago a television series began its run: Gossip Girl. It was a teen drama based on a novel series by Cecily von Ziegesar. Fictional lives, then, of a batch of adolescents, queen bees in their gossipy chess games. It takes little imagination to add, say, fifty gossipy […]
“The Time the Waters Rose,” by Paul Ruffin
August 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl The Time the Waters Rose is a collection of eight short stories by the late Paul Ruffin. One of the eight is less a short story and more an excerpt from his 2002 novel, Pompeii Man. The collection opens with a “Preface,” part biography and part apology or defense. Ruffin […]
“Wondering Toward Center,” by Kathy A. Bradley
August 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl Back in 1851 Henry Thoreau arrived at the Concord Lyceum to deliver a lecture, one he would repeat ten or more times. He thought of the piece as seminal to everything he might write afterwards. He revised it throughout the next nine or so years, publishing the piece eventually as […]