Category Archives: Modern Literary Fiction
Hôtel Inspiré – Douglas Warren
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Without realizing it at the time he would be unable to crawl back into his former ‘safe’ life. He had emerged like a butterfly, le papillon. Now he would learn to fly, in fact soar.” Though … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction, Skinny reads
Tagged France, Paris
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Corkscrew: The highly improbable, but occasionally true, tale of a professional wine buyer – Peter Stafford-Bow
(Reviewed by Don Jung) Prep school failure Felix Hart got his first job as an inventory clerk at a wine shop. Little did he realize that this would set the stage for his career as a premier wine buyer in … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged book review, dark humor, wine
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Torment: A Novella – H.D. Hunter
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I wish I could tell them how hard it was. How hard it still is. I wish I could tell them that just because a person doesn’t understand what it means to be broken doesn’t mean … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction, Skinny reads
Tagged coming-of-age, mental illness
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Everybody Wins (Except for the Losers): A Record Store Day Story – Steve Murphy
(Reviewed by Don Jung) In this digital age, you would think that record stores are a thing of the past. But this particular record store is full of passionate employees who love what they do. After all, their world revolves … Continue reading
Posted in Humor & Satire, Modern Literary Fiction, Skinny reads
Tagged dark humor, music, novella, vinyl records
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The Third Hotel: A Novel – Laura van den Berg
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “The foundation of horror is a dislocation of reality, a dislocation designed to reveal the reality that has been there all along, and such dislocations happen all the time. “ That was according to the fictional … Continue reading
Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Horror, Modern Literary Fiction, Noir-esque fiction
Tagged cinema, Cuba, death, grief, Havana, Latin America, surrealism
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The Pursuit of Ordinary – Nigel Jay Cooper
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “With me inside him, he didn’t feel dislocated like he used to. It was like he was back in tune with the world, experiencing real, solid emotions for the first time in years.” Joe was … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged ADULT FICTION, book reviews, British literature, fiction, mental illness
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Gables Court – Alan S. Kessler
(Reviewed by Jeyran Main) Samuel Baas is a hopeless romantic. He wants to remain a virgin until he falls in love and marries his soulmate. Moving from New England opens him to wonders and questions his thinking process, like the … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged book reviews, fiction
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Sugar Skulls – M.R. Tapia
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Celestial authorities have coordinated with the Emergency Alert System to issue this warning: Your soul is now properly fucked…” Micah DeAtta, a young drug and alcohol addicted, depressed, deadbeat dad is faced with finality—death itself. Death … Continue reading
Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged book reviews, death, fiction, memories, regrets
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A NIGHT IN JAIL: A story about drugs and mental illness, inspired by true events – H.A. Swan, K. Anderson
Reviewed by JD Jung) “One day, marijuana is going to be legalized and this “punishment” will all be for nothing.” Yes, getting pulled over while high was the first “Reality Rush”. The second one came when his parents refused to … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged book reviews. fiction, marijuana, mental illness, paranoia, Schizophrenia, Seattle
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Fire Sermon – Jamie Quatro
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…I only know arousal within love—because I’ve never separated emotion from body—is my pattern to create a pretend love first, over and over, in order to feel desire, and desirable?” “I admit that unless something is … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction, Romance
Tagged book reviews, Christian, fiction, infidelity, Religion, Romance
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