15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interstitial means the space between., April 8 2007
By Eleanor Skinner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing (Paperback)
The stories in this collection are:
Karen Jordan Allen, "Alternate Anxieties"
Christopher Barzak, "What We Know About the Lost Families of - House"
K. Tempest Bradford, "Black Feather"
Matthew Cheney, "A Map of the Everywhere"
Michael DeLuca, "The Utter Proximity of God"
Adrián Ferrero, "When It Rains, You'd Better Get Out of Ulga" (translated from Spanish)
Colin Greenland, "Timothy"
Csilla Kleinheincz, "A Drop of Raspberry" (translated from Hungarian)
Holly Phillips, "Queen of the Butterfly Kingdom"
Rachel Pollack, "Burning Beard - The Dreams and Visions of Joseph Ben Jacob, Lord Viceroy of Egypt"
Joy Marchand, "Pallas at Noon"
Anna Tambour, "The Shoe in SHOES' Window"
Veronica Schanoes, "Rats"
Léa Silhol, "Emblemata" (translated from French)
Jon Singer, "Willow Pattern"
Vandana Singh, "Hunger"
Mikal Trimm, "Climbing Redemption Mountain"
Catherynne Valente, "A Dirge for Prester John"
Leslie What, "Post hoc"
I count at least 6 really good stories out of 19, which is a lot better than most anthologies. 'Willow Pattern' is a catalogue of ceramics in a collection, which include at least one piece depicting aliens. 'A Drop of Raspberry' is the story of a lake who saves the life of a drowning man, and what they do after. In 'Timothy,' the namesake character turns into a man and shows up for dinner, as usual. 'The Utter Proximity of God' is funny. 'Queen of the Butterfly Kingdom' is by Holly Phillips, which means it's good; it's about a writer whose beloved is being held in a hostage situation. 'Burning Beard' is about the seer Joseph - yes, Joseph from the Bible. 'Climbing Redemption Mountain' is about two brothers whose semi-abusive father has died, and is very very good.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Rockin' Anthology, May 10 2007
By mungo181 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing (Paperback)
If you're a fan of experimental fiction or literary fiction, you can't go wrong with this anthology. So many of the stories are memorable, but some standouts are "What We Know About the Lost Families of _____ House" by Christopher Barzak, where a town tells a story of a woman who falls in love with a haunted house, and Rachael Pollack's "Burning Board" is a very non-traditional rewrite of the story of Joseph ben Jacob, the Old Testament Hebrew prophet. Leslie What's "Post Hoc" is a sort of homage to Eudora Welty's "Why I Live at the P.O." A pregnant woman mails herself to her unresponsive ex-boyfriend, only to end up in the dead-letter office. There are so many good stories in this book, it's hard not to love.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good, And Pushes Your Expectations of Genre, Feb 27 2008
By S. S. White "Calico Reaction" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing (Paperback)
What is interstitial fiction? This short story anthology does its best to find out. From the intro, which defines interstitial being between borders, but something that's not a hybrid, to each of the 19 stories crafted by some damn talented voices in fiction, I have to say, I learned a lot. Interstitial writing isn't just about genre, or only about genre. In some stories, interstitality had to do with place, or with character, or with a particular moment in life. This book is shelved in the SF/F section of the store, and indeed, some of the stories certainly have a magical realist flair, but if I had to classify this book as anything, it's literary fiction. It's not an anthology that's for everyone, but for anyone with a love of language and fine writing with an open and inquisitive imagination, I think you'll find this anthology worth your while. I know I sure did.