The Paris Review, Issue 244, Summer 2023

by Emily Stokes (Editor), Caleb Crain, Rachel B. Glaser

FICTION
Caleb Crain - The Letter
Rachel B. Glaser - Dead Woman
James Lasdun - Helen
Juliana Leite - My Good Friend
Diane Oliver - “No Brown Sugar in Anybody’s Milk”
Jamie Quatro - Little House

INTERVIEW
John Keene - The Art of Fiction No. 259
Sharon Olds - The Art of Poetry No. 114

POETRY
Leopoldine Core - Ex-Stewardess
Richie Hofmann - Armed Cavalier
Imani Elizabeth Jackson - from “Flag”
Jessica Laser - Kings
Lewis Meyers - Summer Letters
Mirta Rosenberg - Cat in Portrait
Jonathan Thirkield - Antwerp (2)

PORTFOLIO
Margot Bergman - Cups
Jameson Green - Writers

COVER
Emilie Louise Gossiaux - Issue No. 243 Cover

JOURNAL
Lydia Davis - Selections from Journal, 1996

Genres: Poetry, Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction

253 pages, Perfectbound

First published June 1, 2023

Reviews

[Malia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the interviews and Richie’s poem. The rest didn’t speak to me as much.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic issue, including an interview with Sharon Olds and stories by Jamie Quatro and Rachel B. Glaser.

[Samara Brass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for Kings by Jessica Laser !!!!!

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book sporadically throughout the summer, and now it is autumn and I have only just finished reading. With that in mind, I don't remember much of the stories and snippets I read prior to the last short story. But this last story I've just read was so amazing. The prose was so inspiring (by this I mean inspiring to my own writing). I understood all of the little sentiment in each certain word or phrase or short sentence. For some reason, I thought of Patti Smith reading "Dead Woman" by Glaser. Truly truly amazing work. Of course they had to end it with this story.

[Amie]

This one wasn’t as good for me as some other issues. Of the stories, I liked Dead Woman best (really liked), then My Good Friend (subtle, emotional), then Helen, which was funny but I was let down by the ending a little. The Diane Oliver story was great (old and masterful) and I had to look her up later. I unfortunately did not get any of the poetry. Too bad for me. Although Kings did stand out as easier to connect with.

[✽ ayanna ✽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

standouts: absolutely LOVED the last short story, “Dead Woman.” “Helen” was also interesting, along with “Little House.” As usual, the interviews are gold.

I didn’t connect with or understand the majority of the poetry, and I thought the Lydia Davis journal fragments were primarily uninspiring aside from a few snippets.

[Kira L'Dante · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why did the publish a bunch of Lydia Davis's journal fragments - are they so enamored with her that they'll take a heap of disconnected scraps from her? And why do they publish Caleb Crain at all? 'Helen' is an incredible story at least.

[Sarah Gindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

literary of me

[Reilly Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My good friends, Helen, little house, and dead women were all good stories. Jameson Green’s art was nice as well.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short stories were phenom & loved (most ish)of the interviews

[Christina]

On airplanes. Highlights: Sharon Olds catching sight of a hawk mid-interview. Rachael B. Glaser. Kings.

[angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

faves: dead women (rachel b. glaser), little house (jamie quatro), my good friend (juliana leite)

lydia davis’s journal fragments were so unnecessary

[Raena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for "Dead Woman" by Rachel Glaser.

[Elizabeth McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of reading this on the beach, in the sun. It was the perfect place to read it. The threads of queerness and love lost tied this collection together beautifully. All the stories, poems, and interview with Olds were 10/10, except the diary extracts. They seemed out of place. Maybe it's just the experience of reading someone else's half-formed experiments; they jangle next to the other complete ideas. Not to say the diary excerpts don't have value, but they were comparatively less satisfying.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favs were: My Good Friend & Dead Woman