I've begun reviewing for the on-line site Book Munch, which has a reputation for 'tell it as it is' reviews. My first assignment was a giant anthology of Stephen Dixon's previously uncollected short fiction. He is a strange writer - the nearest analogy might perhaps be Raymond Carver, but Dixon is meaner and leaner than that, or perhaps Kafka, because he generates the same kind of brooding malevolence - a sense of unease beneath the surface and you've no idea where it comes from. His style is unique and he's an author that anyone writing short fiction needs to be aware of. You can read the complete review below.
'Reading all sixty two of Stephen Dixon’s uncollected stories in a single five hundred and sixty page marathon is a challenging experience. But then, Stephen Dixon has been forcing readers to confront their own assumptions about literature, society, their complacencies and preconceptions, and ideas of how and what a writer should write, for more than fifty years. What Is All This? is an apt title. It expresses a kind of bewilderment about being human, and the world we live in, which is the question that connects diverse stories that span several decades from the 1950s to the present day, reflecting the output of one of America’s most undervalued writers........' Read More on Book Munch
Some really interesting recommendations here Kathy - love the sound of several of these books and will be hot foot to Amazon shortly. I am in awe of the amount and scope of reading you do - puts me to shame but makes me determined to read more!
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