Tag: Mark Alvarez
-
If It Turns Out Strange: An Interview with Bradley Sands
Bradley Sands once said that his stories do not follow the laws of physics, but that their realities are only bound by the laws of grammar. This is evident in his latest book, Liquid Status, about one household’s transformation after a death in the family. But it is not a merely a metaphoric transformation, it…
-
Requiem for a Kool-Aid Wino: Why is Richard Brautigan, the Original George Saunders, Still Ignored?
by Mark Alvarez My old San Francisco neighborhood has two hearts: Portsmouth Square and Washington Square. While the former is something whose name is unrecognized even by many San Franciscans, part of the vagueness they thrust upon Chinatown–despite being the spot where the state of California was founded–the latter is one of the most well-loved…
-
The Hermit Crab Essay: Brenda Miller Unshells her Own
A hermit crab essay is one that imitates a non-literary text—recipe, obituary, rejection letter—using the found form in novel ways, but retaining the semantic resonance of the original.
-
A Clogged Drain, Box of Rocks, a Fish’s Heart: How Writers Structure their Collections
In a conference for writers, metaphors will rule. Do text and textiles share more than just a Latin root? Are collections like dead fish or disgusting birds? Are they like unruly orphans, clogged drains or music albums?
Thin Air Magazine 