What do you think?
Rate this book
Ploughshares Summer 2019
Ploughshares is an award-winning journal of new writing. Since 1971, Ploughshares has discovered and cultivated the freshest voices in contemporary American literature, and remains prescient in the digital age by providing readers with thoughtful and entertaining literature in a variety of formats. Find out why the New York Times named Ploughshares “the Triton among minnows.”
As guest-editor Viet Thanh Nguyen writes in his introduction, “We need to work in environments with a diversity of people to make sure that the views of others who are different from us can check; likewise, we need literature written from a variety of perspectives and by a wide range of authors for the same reason—so that literature itself can demand that we see the world differently from how we normally might.” Featuring new work from Roxane Gay, Elizabeth Strout, James Hannaham, Laila Lalami, Patricia Engel, and many others, the work in this issue is connected by the medley of voices framing contemporary literature.
As guest-editor Viet Thanh Nguyen writes in his introduction, “We need to work in environments with a diversity of people to make sure that the views of others who are different from us can check; likewise, we need literature written from a variety of perspectives and by a wide range of authors for the same reason—so that literature itself can demand that we see the world differently from how we normally might.” Featuring new work from Roxane Gay, Elizabeth Strout, James Hannaham, Laila Lalami, Patricia Engel, and many others, the work in this issue is connected by the medley of voices framing contemporary literature.
213 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 15, 2019
48 people want to read
About the author
Viet Thanh Nguyen
44 books5,654 followersViet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in America. He is the author of “The Sympathizer,” awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. His most recent book, “To Save and to Destroy,” explores the idea of being an outsider. He is also the author of the short story collection “The Refugees;” the nonfiction book “Nothing Ever Dies,” a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award; the children's book “Simone” along with illustrator Minnie Phan; the sequel to “The Sympathizer,” “The Committed;” the nonfiction book “A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial,” longlisted for the National Book Award; and is the editor of an anthology of refugee writing, “The Displaced,” as well as a co-editor of “The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora.” He is a University Professor and the Aerol Arnold Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California and a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur foundations. He lives in Los Angeles.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 1, 2020
Favorites: Immediate Family, Lifestyle Issues, & Public Opinion.
December 17, 2020
Discovered so many authors and writing styles.
December 3, 2021
Great stories. A little disappointed in the poetry selection (not very large). Nguyen is one of my favorite writers and critical thinkers. What he chooses to print always makes the reader THINK!
August 31, 2019
I've been reading Ploughshares for so many years now and it continues to delight and inspire me. This edition was no different. All the guest editors bring their own tastes and ideas to the table and in this collection Viet Thanh Nguyen stated she was looking for voices that may not otherwise have a chance to be heard.
In this edition, we get a fine collection of poetry from James Hannaham. His poems range from non-fiction to fantasy and everything in between. They are thoughtful and enjoyable.
I really enjoyed Doorway to Darnkess by Kenneth Calhoun, which explored the themes of cowardice in a teacher by introducing a magical element amidst images of escape.
The non-fiction story Prison in the Age of Euphemisms by Alex Chertok gives a stark look at the differences between pampered high school students and their counterparts in the prison system who certainly have a different outlook on the world in which we live.
The always brilliant Roxane Gay's Immediate Family gives portraits of two generations of Haitian immigrants and the cruelties time and choices play on people between generations.
Yaron Kaver's I Only Had Eyes for You was a sad but hilarious look at one man's process of divorce and losing his wife and then his friend in quick succession. When he makes a quick decision to lie about something, the lie snowballs in unpredictable ways.
Butterfly at Rest by Scott Nadelson tells the story of an artist/actor/comedian Henry who is dealing with the aftermath of being blacklisted in the McCarthy era. It's a stark look at the way the Committee on Un-American Activities ruined lives and reputations.
Lynne Sharon Schwartz' Am I a Thief? was hilarious. It's about a woman who steps into the literal shoes of someone else at a movie theater and finds them so comfortable she walks off in them leaving her own shoes behind.
I also really loved Rob Magnuson Smith's Glacier that deals so well with loss and the distance it creates between relationships.
Solid solid writing and curating of these stores.
In this edition, we get a fine collection of poetry from James Hannaham. His poems range from non-fiction to fantasy and everything in between. They are thoughtful and enjoyable.
I really enjoyed Doorway to Darnkess by Kenneth Calhoun, which explored the themes of cowardice in a teacher by introducing a magical element amidst images of escape.
The non-fiction story Prison in the Age of Euphemisms by Alex Chertok gives a stark look at the differences between pampered high school students and their counterparts in the prison system who certainly have a different outlook on the world in which we live.
The always brilliant Roxane Gay's Immediate Family gives portraits of two generations of Haitian immigrants and the cruelties time and choices play on people between generations.
Yaron Kaver's I Only Had Eyes for You was a sad but hilarious look at one man's process of divorce and losing his wife and then his friend in quick succession. When he makes a quick decision to lie about something, the lie snowballs in unpredictable ways.
Butterfly at Rest by Scott Nadelson tells the story of an artist/actor/comedian Henry who is dealing with the aftermath of being blacklisted in the McCarthy era. It's a stark look at the way the Committee on Un-American Activities ruined lives and reputations.
Lynne Sharon Schwartz' Am I a Thief? was hilarious. It's about a woman who steps into the literal shoes of someone else at a movie theater and finds them so comfortable she walks off in them leaving her own shoes behind.
I also really loved Rob Magnuson Smith's Glacier that deals so well with loss and the distance it creates between relationships.
Solid solid writing and curating of these stores.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews