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The Paris Review, Issue 254 , Winter 2025
224 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 10, 2026
Interview with Helene Cixous was immensely inspiring for me, my favorite part of the edition. Poem translated from Arabic by Masri was another favorite and intense. Short stories were great. Had trouble with my takeaways and connection from Eleutherius but that’s a me problem, wish I had somewhere to discuss it!
March 16, 2026
The dream of all dreams. “But I’m a dreamer…when you dream, you are constantly connected to…the secret. Everything you don’t understand during the day, at night, you can see. It’s a permanent theatre isn’t it? - interview with Helene Cixous
“Or maybe he just wanted to send her a message. When people are close like that, they don’t have to talk” - Lala And Walsh, Elias Rodriques
the art of poetry, Alice Oswald: “poems have a way of hearing the accusations that put the heart on trial. I’ve always had the question, Why does a poem begin? I like noticing the feeing that something is already interrogating me”
“Or maybe he just wanted to send her a message. When people are close like that, they don’t have to talk” - Lala And Walsh, Elias Rodriques
the art of poetry, Alice Oswald: “poems have a way of hearing the accusations that put the heart on trial. I’ve always had the question, Why does a poem begin? I like noticing the feeing that something is already interrogating me”
January 12, 2026
“Poems have a way of hearing the accusations that put the heart on trial.” The Art of Poetry 119 - Alice Oswald, “Dan” drawings ❤️ - Mieko Meguro
June 30, 2026
“Dover Calais,” Jana Prikryl — I appreciate the scansion, but the language and subject didn’t come through clear enough for me to enjoy this poem about…well, that’s always the trick with poetry, what is it really about. It’s ostensibly a rumination on accidentally falling into the British Channel, but that’s obviously a metaphor for getting dunked in many other ways.
“The Junior Realtor,” Alec Niedenthal — A story with interesting characters that goes nowhere, which is kind of a definition of modern fiction. Is there even a character arc? I suppose the protagonist picking up his guitar again and singing to his friends for the first time in years counts as a kind of change, but it’s so subtle as to be hidden. Criticism aside, I enjoyed it while I was reading it, so that counts for something—it’s just not something I would print out and push on reading buddies as something they absolutely had to read or even might want to.
“Hélène Cixous, The Art of Criticism No. 7,” conducted by Alice McCrum — I had never heard of or read anything, fiction or nonfiction, by Cixous, so came at this interview with nothing other than the obvious recommendation by The Paris Review, where this interview was featured, and its heading as part of their series on criticism. Interestingly enough, Cixous rejects the label of critic and calling her nonfiction criticism, favoring instead the word analysis, which I’m okay with. Criticism implies wrong-finding; analysis indicates an engagement with the text, ferreting out its meaning and value. I’ve been labeled a reviewer and a critic but I’m likely just a lay analyst. Unlike some of the other more recent Paris Review interviews I’ve read, however, I didn’t feel the urge to go find and read some of Cixous’ work after this.
“Journal, 1969 - 1970,” Eve Babitz — The fascination with this ingenue from the late 60s centers around her connection to the celebrities she came in contact with in Los Angeles, certainly not for any of her insights into herself or the self-absorbed life style. Babitz made her “living” as a painter, selling collages to be used as the cover for records and occasionally trading an original to settle debt she incurred. This hand-to-mouth existence coincided with being a hanger-on at industry parties and (pardon my Baptist prudishness) being a paramour for record company executives and other men of low morals. When I used to receive books in the mail for review, I received Eve’s Hollywood, a more edited version of these diary entries and was not able to finish it because there’s only so much ennui I can read. I managed to make it through this excerpt, but only because I was at 32,000 feet at the time and this was in a magazine I had brought to read during that period.
“Eleutherius,” Marlene Morgan — I was wondering how many issues I would read in The Paris Review before I got to the classic modernist tale of adultery and the answer is two. What is it about modern writers that they can’t think of something else to write about? Or perhaps adultery is simply the norm and I’m the outlier (and, given that divorce percentage is over 50% in the US, that may be the answer). So, at least one strike against this story for that. The other strike is how unrelenting passive and dull the main character is until the final quarter of the story where the guilt of her affair and the possibility it might be uncovered in the child she bears finally gives her some emotion, akin to that in Nella Larson’s Passing without the race issue.
"A Palestinian, a Sudanese, and the third was a Moroccan,” Monzer Masri — Having lived in the Middle East for a number of years, I recognized some of the characters in this poem—no one specific, but the general type. Because of that connection, I enjoyed this rumination on the brevity of friendships formed because of shared circumstances (university, in this case).
“A - Z,” Gwendolyn Riley — I totally missed the point of this story about a young girl who idolizes a pop star who then takes advantage of her. Most of this story is a series of ugly incidents and reading it made me feel like watching an auto accident, or the aftermath of one. That’s not what I look for in a short story.
“Lala and Waldy,” Elias Rodriques — This story about a couple of kids who are connected in a strange way was fascinating all the way through the narrative, which covers a decade of their lives while touching on the deterioration of their community, their poor chances for a better life, and their own psychological issues. My usual complaint about modern short stories is how little plot there is; this one has enough plot for a novel and yet doesn’t feel rushed. I’m not sure I would want a full novel like this, however, because I’m not sure I would want to live in this world for that long, which also is testament to the power of this story, because none of these kids want to live in it either.
“Alice Oswald, The Art of Poetry No. 119” — Another writer I wasn’t familiar with, but the interview was interesting for me because Oswald is roughly my age. Akin to electing a President younger than I am, this is going to be one of those things I have to get used to: interviews with authors my age or younger. I couldn’t really relate to Oswald though, as her path to literature is much different than anything I took or could have taken.
“Good Tank Farms,” Millicent Borges Accardi — I liked the workaday subject of this poem, somewhat since I once worked in a place where tank farms were a daily subject of conversation (mostly about how they leaked, so they weren’t good tank farms anymore). Sometimes that’s what it takes to enjoy a poem, to have that little connection between your experience and what the poet is talking about.
“Three Poems,” Ed Roberson — All three of these poems have some interesting lines but don’t come together to present anything coherent for me.
“The Junior Realtor,” Alec Niedenthal — A story with interesting characters that goes nowhere, which is kind of a definition of modern fiction. Is there even a character arc? I suppose the protagonist picking up his guitar again and singing to his friends for the first time in years counts as a kind of change, but it’s so subtle as to be hidden. Criticism aside, I enjoyed it while I was reading it, so that counts for something—it’s just not something I would print out and push on reading buddies as something they absolutely had to read or even might want to.
“Hélène Cixous, The Art of Criticism No. 7,” conducted by Alice McCrum — I had never heard of or read anything, fiction or nonfiction, by Cixous, so came at this interview with nothing other than the obvious recommendation by The Paris Review, where this interview was featured, and its heading as part of their series on criticism. Interestingly enough, Cixous rejects the label of critic and calling her nonfiction criticism, favoring instead the word analysis, which I’m okay with. Criticism implies wrong-finding; analysis indicates an engagement with the text, ferreting out its meaning and value. I’ve been labeled a reviewer and a critic but I’m likely just a lay analyst. Unlike some of the other more recent Paris Review interviews I’ve read, however, I didn’t feel the urge to go find and read some of Cixous’ work after this.
“Journal, 1969 - 1970,” Eve Babitz — The fascination with this ingenue from the late 60s centers around her connection to the celebrities she came in contact with in Los Angeles, certainly not for any of her insights into herself or the self-absorbed life style. Babitz made her “living” as a painter, selling collages to be used as the cover for records and occasionally trading an original to settle debt she incurred. This hand-to-mouth existence coincided with being a hanger-on at industry parties and (pardon my Baptist prudishness) being a paramour for record company executives and other men of low morals. When I used to receive books in the mail for review, I received Eve’s Hollywood, a more edited version of these diary entries and was not able to finish it because there’s only so much ennui I can read. I managed to make it through this excerpt, but only because I was at 32,000 feet at the time and this was in a magazine I had brought to read during that period.
“Eleutherius,” Marlene Morgan — I was wondering how many issues I would read in The Paris Review before I got to the classic modernist tale of adultery and the answer is two. What is it about modern writers that they can’t think of something else to write about? Or perhaps adultery is simply the norm and I’m the outlier (and, given that divorce percentage is over 50% in the US, that may be the answer). So, at least one strike against this story for that. The other strike is how unrelenting passive and dull the main character is until the final quarter of the story where the guilt of her affair and the possibility it might be uncovered in the child she bears finally gives her some emotion, akin to that in Nella Larson’s Passing without the race issue.
"A Palestinian, a Sudanese, and the third was a Moroccan,” Monzer Masri — Having lived in the Middle East for a number of years, I recognized some of the characters in this poem—no one specific, but the general type. Because of that connection, I enjoyed this rumination on the brevity of friendships formed because of shared circumstances (university, in this case).
“A - Z,” Gwendolyn Riley — I totally missed the point of this story about a young girl who idolizes a pop star who then takes advantage of her. Most of this story is a series of ugly incidents and reading it made me feel like watching an auto accident, or the aftermath of one. That’s not what I look for in a short story.
“Lala and Waldy,” Elias Rodriques — This story about a couple of kids who are connected in a strange way was fascinating all the way through the narrative, which covers a decade of their lives while touching on the deterioration of their community, their poor chances for a better life, and their own psychological issues. My usual complaint about modern short stories is how little plot there is; this one has enough plot for a novel and yet doesn’t feel rushed. I’m not sure I would want a full novel like this, however, because I’m not sure I would want to live in this world for that long, which also is testament to the power of this story, because none of these kids want to live in it either.
“Alice Oswald, The Art of Poetry No. 119” — Another writer I wasn’t familiar with, but the interview was interesting for me because Oswald is roughly my age. Akin to electing a President younger than I am, this is going to be one of those things I have to get used to: interviews with authors my age or younger. I couldn’t really relate to Oswald though, as her path to literature is much different than anything I took or could have taken.
“Good Tank Farms,” Millicent Borges Accardi — I liked the workaday subject of this poem, somewhat since I once worked in a place where tank farms were a daily subject of conversation (mostly about how they leaked, so they weren’t good tank farms anymore). Sometimes that’s what it takes to enjoy a poem, to have that little connection between your experience and what the poet is talking about.
“Three Poems,” Ed Roberson — All three of these poems have some interesting lines but don’t come together to present anything coherent for me.
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May 30, 2026At that point, you say only vital words - nothing else. You don’t add whipped cream on top. You say essential things. And it’s actually not so simple to be at the level of the essential. I am interested in what is essential because I am overdetermined by my own experience. —Cixous
A true dream, a dream that I don’t make up but that makes itself, has creative forces that I personally cannot compete with. A dream is much more powerful than I am, so it would be absurd to set aside this very powerful magician and replace it with something weaker. — Cixous
Oswald interview - teared up at her thoughts
A true dream, a dream that I don’t make up but that makes itself, has creative forces that I personally cannot compete with. A dream is much more powerful than I am, so it would be absurd to set aside this very powerful magician and replace it with something weaker. — Cixous
Oswald interview - teared up at her thoughts
January 26, 2026
My first physical copy of the Paris Review and I'm satisfied with it. Standouts were Eve Babitz's journals (obviously); Eleutherius (which made me think about guilt & consequences, or lack thereof); [A-Z] (which made me relive the unique and acute horror that is teenage girldom); and the interview with Alice Oswald (which made me want to read more poetry).
Overall reading in a magazine format was fun, made me feel like maybe I'm reading in real-time the Salingers, Foster Wallaces, Roths of today. Looking forward to the subsequent issues.
Overall reading in a magazine format was fun, made me feel like maybe I'm reading in real-time the Salingers, Foster Wallaces, Roths of today. Looking forward to the subsequent issues.
March 1, 2026
inspiring, especially the interviews. After reading the Helene Cixous interview I felt very much motivated to write freely for myself.
Eve Babitz's diary was both hard hitting and funny at times. I really liked seeing that all girls tend to be quite similar.
The short stories were a pleasant reading experience.
Eve Babitz's diary was both hard hitting and funny at times. I really liked seeing that all girls tend to be quite similar.
The short stories were a pleasant reading experience.
April 22, 2026
Interesting interviews with insightful and memorable information, caged poetry that rarely moved me, stiff and overly formal, non-innovative, and summary-reliant prose fiction featuring largely uninteresting characters in mostly bourgeois circles. Tackles diverse subject matters, though risks content-wise are taken within the safety of conventional form.
May 23, 2026
Good issue, perhaps the best since I've been a subscriber. Excellent interviews of [[Hélène Cixous]] and [[Alice Oswald]]. The prose pieces were generally good, especially Eve Babitz's and Gwendoline Riley's, of which I'm still thinking about. *Lala and Waldy* was the odd one out. Poetry, conversely, was the weakest section, except, of course, for Oswald's poems.
February 13, 2026
Genuinely enjoyed this one
March 5, 2026
to be educated is to be read— also i am suddenly very inclined to read more of cixous
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March 28, 2026some pretty good stories and a decent poetry interview although the poetry wasn't good for my taste. the other interview on art critic was interesting
May 25, 2026
Cixious!!!!!!
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June 11, 2026Personal highlights were Babitz diary, Helene Cixous interview, Gwendolyn Riley’s A-Z, Jana Prikryls poem Dover Calais
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews