Perpetual Folly
Clifford Garstang's Blog
Clifford Garstang
- Location
- Staunton, Virginia,
- Birthday
- November 28
- Bio
- I am a fiction writer. My collection of linked short stories, In an Uncharted Country (Press 53, 2009), won the Maria Thomas Fiction Award and a Gold Medal (IPPY) from Independent Publisher. I am the editor of Prime Number Magazine. Visit my website at http://cliffordgarstang.com
MY RECENT POSTS
- The New Yorker: "Referential"
by Lorrie Moore
May 21, 2012 06:51PM - Short Story Month: "Cousin
Barnaby is Dead" in Joyland
May 15, 2012 02:43PM - The New Yorker: "The Proxy
Marriage" by Maile Meloy
May 14, 2012 07:13PM - New Update for Prime Number
May 11, 2012 08:01AM - The New Yorker: "Sweet Dreams"
by Peter Stamm
May 07, 2012 05:48PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “Mark, your analysis is
surprisingly shallow. Yes, it
would be
nice if the loan
ha…”
October 06, 2011 05:22PM
Clifford Garstang's Links
MAY 21, 2012 6:51PM
The New Yorker: "Referential" by Lorrie Moore
May 28, 2012:
“Referentialâ€
by Lorrie Moore
If it
weren’t for the
Q&A with Lorrie Moore I would not have known that this
story by Lorrie Moore is derivative (Moore uses the word
“homageâ€) of
“Signs and Symbols†by Vladimir
Nabokov, a story published in the magazine in 1948.
Although/… Read full post »
MAY 15, 2012 2:43PM
Short Story Month: "Cousin Barnaby is Dead" in Joyland
But, a story of mine just appeared/…
MAY 14, 2012 7:13PM
The New Yorker: "The Proxy Marriage" by Maile Meloy
May 21, 2012:
“The
Proxy Marriage†by Maile Meloy
I loved this story, except
for the beginning and the ending. Regarding the ending, I suppose I
shouldn’t stay too much, although (a) the story
is online for free and I urge everyone to read it and (b) there is
something of a… Read full post »
MAY 11, 2012 8:01AM
New Update for Prime Number
Please take a look! The magazine is always looking for good work, so pleas/…
MAY 7, 2012 5:48PM
The New Yorker: "Sweet Dreams" by Peter Stamm
May 14, 2012:
“Sweet
Dreams†by Peter Stamm
It’s a
little difficult to discuss this story, which is translated from
the German, without revealing its ending, although the author does
in the
Q&A with Peter Stamm, which I recommend that you wait to
read until after you’ve read the story.
Lik/… Read full post »
MAY 5, 2012 1:22PM
Tips for Writers: Which vs. That
Let’s try to untangle a
knot that some writers find themselves in: how to know when to use
“which†and when to use
“that.†The question arises today
because of a story I’m editing.
The story, which consists mostly of one
wonderfully long sentence, necessarily contains a lot of
relati… Read full post »
MAY 3, 2012 9:00AM
5/3: It's National Press 53 Day!
It's a great small press that specializes in short story collections and poetry.
Hel/…
APRIL 30, 2012 7:14PM
The New Yorker: "Nero" by Louise Erdrich
May 7, 2012:
“Neroâ€
by Louise Erdrich
See the
Q&A with Louise Erdrich.
What have we got here? A
mean dog who likes gingersnaps and lives to escape, whose will to
live is defeated when the possibility of escape is
removed. You have to feel sorry for
the dog, as the story’s narrator
seems… Read full post »
APRIL 27, 2012 7:43PM
Writing the Short Story: Make Your Story Great! New class begins May 7
APRIL 27, 2012 8:35AM
Forthcoming Books: What the Zhang Boys Know, a novel in stories
I'm excited/…
APRIL 23, 2012 6:46PM
The New Yorker: "Hand on the Shoulder" by Ian McEwan
April 30, 2012:
“Hand
on the Shoulder†by Ian McEwan
It seemed evident from
reading this “story†(available for
free online, by the way), that it is an excerpt from a novel, and
this is confirmed in the
Q&A with Ian McEwan (the novel is called Sweet
Tooth, which I think is/… Read full post »
APRIL 21, 2012 8:14AM
April 25 is End Malaria Day -- How You Can Help
April 25 is End Malaria Day. You can help. Watch the video. Then go to the website and read about the book. Then buy the book. (I just bought the Kindle version so $20 will go toward the cause.) Here's the email I received about this project:
EndMalaria,http://www.EndMalariaDay.com, is an a/… Read full post »
APRIL 20, 2012 11:24AM
Tips for Writers: Back up!
Usually in my Friday Tips for Writers I
focus on someelement of craft—howto make your
work the best it can be. But today I’m going
with something moremundane: on a regular basis, backup your
work.
If you don’t, I promise
someday you’ll be sorry. Yourcomputer will crash
or get zapped by a… Read full post »
APRIL 19, 2012 4:27PM
New Issue of Prime Number Magazine: No. 19
Issue 19--that's the 8th issue, for those familiar with primes--includes short fiction by Laretta Andrews-Mitchell, Frank Scozzari, Arthur Powers, and Gerry Wilson; poetry by Richard Downing and Mary McMyne; nonfiction by Eileen Cunniffe, Mich/…
APRIL 17, 2012 7:53AM
The New Yorker: "Miss Lora" by Junot Díaz
April 23,2012:
“MissLoraâ€
by Junot DÃaz
Read
thestory—its available for free
online—and then read the
Q&Awith Junot Diaz, which is at least as interesting.
DÃaz has a distinctvoice, especially in this character
of Yunior, whom we’ve seen in his workbefore. In
this story, Yunior’s old/… Read full post »
APRIL 15, 2012 10:12AM
Tips for Writers: Strictly Business
The business side of writing takes many forms--researching and submitting to literary magazines, agents, or publishers; keepi/…
APRIL 11, 2012 8:35AM
The New Books Daily
So today/…
APRIL 9, 2012 6:44PM
The New Yorker: "Transatlantic" by Colum McCann
April 16,2012:
“Transatlanticâ€by
Colum McCann
As fans ofColum McCann
know, the man likes to blur the lines between fact and
fiction.Think of the tightrope walker in Let theGreat World
Spin. In this story, the two pilots who make an
earlyTransatlantic flight are real historical figures, although
ot/… Read full post »
APRIL 7, 2012 11:48AM
SWAG Writers
APRIL 6, 2012 5:59PM
New-to-me LitMag: Palooka
Pictured here is Issue #2 (#3 is on the way, apparently), and it's been well reviewed recently in The Review Review and New Pages.
Sounds good to/…
APRIL 6, 2012 5:28PM
Tips for Writers: Take a Hike!
APRIL 5, 2012 1:23PM
Writing Your Life's Stories: The Many Routes to Memoir
APRIL 2, 2012 7:55PM
The New Yorker: "The Porn Critic" by Jonathan Lethem
April 9,2012:
“ThePorn
Critic†by Jonathan Lethem
This onedoes nothing for
me. Fortunately, because the story is available online foranyone to
read, I don’t have to summarize it. You can read
it for yourself. I’ll just say that
it’s the 90sand the main character,
K… Read full post »
MARCH 30, 2012 8:18AM
Tips for Writers: Read Poetry
Seriously. While plot is the foundation of fiction, it is language that makes it truly distinctive. Read the great poets to get a feel for imagery, concision, sound, rhythm--all elements th/…
Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com