No Poem Is the Only Poem. No Story Is the Only Story. Celebrating Diversity Since 2015
Sometimes a work of fiction absolutely does make good on the promise to bring us to another world. And sometimes a novel can make a reader see the world through fresh eyes. New to paperback, Ryan Gattis’ All Involved delivers both as it brings us to a place and culture that few of us can ever know.
This is a novel about identical twins. Not a heartwarming twin story, except for maybe one chapter near the end, but by then your heart is so cold and frozen you wonder if it will ever thaw. A bit of hope enters in the last chapter but you have seen hope dashed many times in this gruesome tale. In fact, a reader who comes through with a warm heart is likely more screwed up than these twins ever were.
Ever wonder what it might be like to live in a world where one tech company was attempting, for lack of a better phrase, to take over the world? I know, I know… seems ridiculous to even read that last sentence. Imagine how I felt writing it. It’s not like there’s tech companies out there right now attempting to do the very same thing by infiltrating every waking second of your life, tracking your every moment and purchase, and slowly but surely making privacy a thing of the past.
I have made a goal this year to read more literature written in countries outside the English speaking world. Tahar Ben Jelloun was born and raised in Morocco, then began to live and write in Paris after attending The Sorbonne. He is bilingual in Arabic and French but writes in French because to him Arabic “is a sacred language, given by God in the shape of the Koran, it is intimidating—one feels very small in front of this language.”
Let’s be honest, folks: Chad Kultgen isn’t for everyone. In fact, I’d argue he probably isn’t for most. Outside of his one turn in the sci-fi world with Darklight (which, admittedly, I haven’t read), his novels tend to focus squarely on the vile, sexual, masturbatory, selfish and destructive tendencies in relationships between men and women—with a specific focus on the male perspective.
At times, because I read incessantly, I grow weary of novels published by the major houses; novels that are written and released with the intention to reach a majority of readers and to sell. For palate cleansing I turn to books from indie publishers. Two Dollar Radio is such a one, run out of their home in Columbus, OH. by a husband and wife team. Berit Ellingsen is a Korean-Norwegian science writer and novelist who lives in Norway and writes in English. Not Dark Yet is her second novel.