Jim Gavin talks about the mix of fact and fiction in 'Middle Men'

The Southern California author's first story collection draws from his experiences in high school basketball, plumbing sales and more.There's a subtle arc to Jim Gavin's first book, "Middle Men" (Simon & Schuster: 224 pp., $23). Gathering seven stories largely set in Southern California, it opens with a high school basketball player and ends with Marty Costello, a plumbing supply salesman who "averages 50,000 miles per year, vast territories, circles of latitude, Inglewood to Barstow, sailing across SoCal, all day every day." Continue reading at 'Los Angeles Times'

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On the Historical Fiction That Lives in the Space Between History and Myth

Let me begin with this admission: every work of historical fiction lives somewhere between history and myth. Before one reckons with the realities of what the research reveals, one must contend with all the layers of subsequent representation of whatever historical moment they approach. Even the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-01 08:52:28 UTC ]
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New Historical Fiction to Read

In three journeys to the past, characters find themselves on quests that have nothing to do with the calendar or geography. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-08-30 09:00:08 UTC ]
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Tess Gunty has won the inaugural Waterstones debut fiction prize.

Congratulations to Tess Gunty, whose critically acclaimed debut novel The Rabbit Hutch has just won the inaugural Waterstones debut fiction prize. The novel (about four teenagers—recently aged out of the state foster-care system—living together in an apartment building in the post-industrial... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-26 15:48:11 UTC ]
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Despite a Bump in Fiction, Print Sales Slipped 3.7% Last Week

A 17% increase in sales of adult fiction was not enough to prevent print book sales from declining 3.7% last week compared to the week ended August 21, 2021. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Why is it so hard to talk about marriage?

Elizabeth Crane's new memoir is an excavation of a 15-year union that proves just how hard it is to talk about marriage, even when it's your own. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-08-18 13:00:19 UTC ]
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The incredible feats and lonely life of sports legend Jim Thorpe

David Maraniss shows how the legendary athlete was celebrated, belittled and exploited. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-08-12 10:00:27 UTC ]
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One of the Earliest Science Fiction Utopias Was a Protest Against Patriarchy

Solar power. The end of war. Gender role reversal. Dirigibles. First published in 1905, Rokeya Hossain’s short story “Sultana’s Dream” is steampunk avant la lettre, strikingly advanced in its critique of patriarchy, conflict, conventional kinship structures, industrialization, and the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-08-08 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Who Do Powerful Men Become When They Sit Down at Home?

Taymour Soomro’s debut novel Other Names for Love begins with a son flinching at the sound of his father’s voice. Sixteen-year-old Fahad has been ordered to spend the summer with Rafik, his authoritarian father who manages their family farm in Sindh, Pakistan. It’s on the train ride there that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-08-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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New Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

Three new books, from epic fantasy to biological thriller, consider an age-old question. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-08-01 18:00:06 UTC ]
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Harry and Meghan biographer Omid Scobie says his sequel ‘will have the world talking’

Finding Freedom author, recently revealed to have been informed by a briefing from a senior aide, promises follow-up boasting ‘deep access’Journalist Omid Scobie will publish a follow-up to his bestselling book Finding Freedom, an unofficial biography of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.Scobie,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-08-01 16:12:28 UTC ]
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Let’s talk about the beasts of sci-fi and horror. ‘Cujo,’ anyone?

From ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ to ‘Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,’ animals are central to some of the most memorable novels Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-07-23 12:00:47 UTC ]
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Fun fact: Zadie Smith’s younger brother is in the bad Austen adaptation.

Today in extremely niche literary world factoids: in case you didn’t know (I did not) Zadie Smith has a younger brother named Ben Bailey Smith, an actor and standup who goes by Doc Brown, admires Taylor Swift’s writing ability, and features in Netflix’s new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-20 16:07:31 UTC ]
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The Layer Cake of Science Fiction: A Sub-Genre Primer

Like our universe, the science fiction genre is constantly expanding. Here is a sampling of the seemingly endless list of its subgenres. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-18 10:40:00 UTC ]
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7 Historical Fiction Novels Set in the Pacific Northwest

The Northwest, where I live and where my novel is set, is a big place and it is a lot of things. It is the damp, mossy woods of the coast, the high desert, and the snowy, jagged mountain ranges that divide the two. It is home to weird and real creatures like giant octopuses, […] The post 7... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-07-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In ‘The Great Man Theory’ a middle-aged man can’t shift out of neutral

Teddy Wayne's novel is a character study of a protagonist stuck in a rut of self-regard. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-07-12 14:30:05 UTC ]
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Goodreads Announces the Most Popular Historical Fiction of 2022 (So Far)

Goodreads has announced its list of the top 36 most popular historical fiction books of 2022 (so far), according to users' interest. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-11 14:45:32 UTC ]
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Apparently, those who read literary fiction—but not other kinds—have a more “complex worldview.”

Yep, as the guy in your MFA already knows, turns out reading literary fiction is better for you than reading other kinds of fiction—especially if you grew up doing it. In a new paper published this week in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, scholars Nicholas Buttrick, Erin C.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-08 16:16:52 UTC ]
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Jesmyn Ward has won the 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.

Jesmyn Ward—the two-time National Book Award-winning author of Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing—has just become, at 45, the youngest ever winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. The prize, which was established in 2008 as a lifetime achievement award, honors “an... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-01 17:08:35 UTC ]
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Good historical fiction is not just about factual accuracy, but the details of human experience too

When it comes to writing historical fiction, one author finds that it’s the very human details that resonate with the reader. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2022-07-01 15:38:42 UTC ]
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‘Invisible Things’ is a science fiction novel with an eye on the now

Mat Johnson’s latest book delivers a biting satire of American politics and class issues — from the vantage point of outer space. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-06-22 13:00:32 UTC ]
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