Category Archives: Modern Literary Fiction

The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales – Laura Madeline Wiseman (Author), Lauren Rinaldi (Illustrator)

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Is hunger who you’ll go to bed with tonight because there’ll be no dinner? Or is hunger not a person, not a sentient being who lives in the store with you, sleeps curled up by your … Continue reading

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Nobody Is Ever Missing – Catherine Lacey

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I was beginning to realize that what I wanted was the noise of people living near me, but not near enough to cause any inaudible noises to show up because I knew that those sorts of … Continue reading

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The Vices – Lawrence Douglas

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “It would be years before I would be prepared to accept his self-assessment [as a sick person], and even then, not fully. …he was handsome, wealthy, the youngest tenured professor at one of the nation’s … Continue reading

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The Confessions of Frances Godwin – Robert Hellenga

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “My life doesn’t add up to anything, Father. More like the story of Troy—all in a day’s work—than Rome, going in circles instead of moving forward. I’ve worn out all the roles I used to play—daughter, … Continue reading

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Rockaway – Tara Ison

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…the relationship of note to note, that’s what music is, we should have been listening to music in all those art classes, trying to grasp color, refraction, translucence, perspective, the illusion of depth…” It also occurred to … Continue reading

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Nochita – Dia Felix

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I am feeling the burning comet feeling again and I want to run out of the house and keep running for hours. Or stomp the glass coffee table and shatter it and shoot beams of blood … Continue reading

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More of This World or Maybe Another – Barb Johnson

(Reviewed by JD Jung) I’m usually critical of short stories. They tend to leave me unsatisfied, wanting more. I’m left unsure of what makes the characters tick, and what ultimately happens to them. So needless to say when I was visiting … Continue reading

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Errata – Michael Allen Zell

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “New Orleans seems to exist as a blank slate for outsiders to grasp and cast their own aspirations, pretenses, and prejudices upon. A few of the outsiders always end up lingering, holding fast, and adding to … Continue reading

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Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights – Frank De Blase

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “‘Twas the night before the night before Christmas and Jack Frost was pissed.” That’s the intro to my favorite story, “The Night Before the Night Before Christmas” in Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights. But what … Continue reading

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Crossroads: A Camino Tale – F. R. Merrill

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “As they stood before a large stone crucifix of the body of Christ carved in a three-dimensional form she pulled out her syringe. When she moved toward Amanda to complete the deed, her sister Margie stepped … Continue reading

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