‘Calls May Be Recorded’ Intentionally Disconnects
Katharina Volckmer’s tale of an isolated soul’s yearning for connection, Calls May Be Recorded intentionally disconnects with its readers in that funny/not funny way.
R.P. Finch
R. P. Finch received his Ph.D. from Duke University (where he taught in the Philosophy department), and his J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia and currently lives with his wife in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the author of Skin in the Game (Livingston Press)
‘Only Smoke’ Obscures Fiction and Reality
Juan José Millás’ Only Smoke explores the relationship between meaning and observation.
‘Not Long Ago Persons Found’ Destroys Order
The narrator of Not Long Ago Persons Found says “a detective story is supposed to be about the restoration of order”, yet this Kafkaesque tale does not do so.
Eric Puchner’s ‘Dream State’ Mirrors Life’s Haze
In Eric Puchner’s Dream State dramatic plot points bob upon a flat-line surface rather than rising, reflecting the rhythm inherent in actual human life.
Roger Célestin’s ‘The Delicate Beast’ Will Devour You
Prolific writer Roger Célestin presents in his debut novel, The Delicate Beast a timely tale of how autocracy will devour you once the process has begun.
The Journey Motif in ‘The Half-Life of Guilt’ Is No Guilt Trip
There is no guilty pleasure in reading Lynn Stegner’s The Half-Life of Guilt. There is only pleasure.
Lindsey Drager’s ‘The Avian Hourglass’ Is Wonderfully Weird
While navigating many odd circumstances, Lindsey Drager’s The Avian Hourglass provides a continuous stream of consciousness; scientific, literary, and philosophical.
War Fever in Norman Lock’s ‘The Caricaturist’
In Norman Lock’s The Caricaturist, the characters find themselves in a fraught time of war fever just as one century dies and a new one is born.
Colin Barrett’s Debut Novel ‘Wild Houses’ Unfolds Predictably
The narrative in Colin Barrett’s debut novel Wild Houses unfolds predictably, without much in the way of plot twists or surprises.
Personhood and Performance in Alexis Soloski’s ‘Here in the Dark’
Alexis Soloski’s Here in the Dark illuminates the act of performance (no matter the stage) and the notion of stepping into and out of one’s personhood.
Living with Uncertainty in ‘The Sterns Are Listening’
Below the surface clutter of its frenetic plot line, The Sterns Are Listening deftly deals with dwelling ‘peacefully in doubt’.
We Can Only Imagine: The Consciousness of Physics
Physicist Ulf Danielsson’s The World Itself pins the powerful, slippery imagination and its impressive ideas about consciousness to matter’s messy, impermanent state.