The Paris Review - Winter 2012

by Lorin Stein (Editor)

Susan Howe on the art of poetry: “I often think of the space of a page as a stage, with words, letters, syllable characters moving across.” And excerpts from the First Annual Norwegian-American Literary Festival, with Donald Antrim, Elif Batuman, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier.

New fiction from James Salter, Rachel Kushner, Sarah Frisch, Tim Parks, Peter Orner, and the winner of the NPR Three-Minute Fiction Contest, and an essay by J. D. Daniels.

Poems by Ben Lerner, Linda Pastan, Devin Johnston, Yasiin Bey, Geoffrey Hill, Regan Good, Joshua Mehigan, and Steven Cramer. A portfolio of images that inspired Rachel Kushner’s novel The Flamethrowers.

Genres: Short Stories

244 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2012

About the author

Lorin Stein is an American critic, editor, and translator. He was an editor of The Paris Review.

Reviews

[Rafah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is utterly fascinating the breadth of diverse story telling in this collection of The Paris Review. I would love to see more French short stories and poetry. Utterly devoured the stories, artwork and interviews!

[S P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars are supposed to mean 'it was okay', and for my first issue of The Paris Review, it was - it was okay. The magazine is gorgeous, of course; the interview, with Susan Howe, enlightening - as they always are. But I guess what was disappointing for me was the fiction. The only stand-out story was Rachel Kushner's whilst I enjoyed also Peter Orner's and Sarah Frisch's. Maybe it's just my reading habits but I found a lot of the stories derivative, idle even. Even running through the stories I highlighted above seemed to be the same gentle torrent of themes, of style. The 3-minute Fiction Contest winning entry, by Marc Sheehan, was like a breath of fresh air at the end - a well deserved winner. The poetry was more varied and diverse. Mention to: Ben Lerner; Linda Pastan; Steven Crammer and Yasiin Bey. All in all a mixed bag.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't care for the interview this issue -- but I really liked the mini-interviews from Oslo. Preferred Rachel Kushner's portfolio to her novel excerpt. V good stories from Salter, Orner, Parks, and Frisch. Esp liked the poem from Devin Johnston and the letter from JD Daniels.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant issue. especially loved the novel excerpt by rachel kushner.

[Rose Gowen]

Whoa, the Daniels piece is a serious knockout.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fiction from Rachel Kushner (author of The Flamethrowers).

[Heather Pagano · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading the Paris Review. I expected to enjoy stories by favorite authors, surprised myself by enjoying the interviews, as well.

[Ingrid Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite in this issue was the story by Sarah Frisch. Also loved the Daniels, which most people here on goodreads seemed to like too.