By CURTIS BAUER
Grackles foraging outside of a Whataburger near North Lake Park.
Soon enough the grackles will truth
the yard out back beneath the wires,
the sidewalk cracks, the live oak roots.
They will lose their dying feathers, now glossed
When I was four years old, my father decided it was time for me to learn my address and phone number, so I’d be able to identify myself and find my way back if I ever got lost. He taught me the following ditty:
Books by RENATA ADLER
Reviewed by
Renata Adler dedicated Speedboat (1976) and Pitch Dark (1981) for “A.” and “B.,” and like two LP sides, the novels, newly reissued by New York Review Books, are variations in a radical approach to fiction. They diametrically oppose E.M. Forster’s formulation that narrative is causation—not “merely” A happened, then B happened, but A caused B. Adler puts A next to X, with no apparent causal connection or temporal sequence. Many characters appear only once. But episodes’ consistent sentence structure and types of characters create a coherent tone. Its effect is hypnotic.
By STEVE BULL
New media artist Steve Bull creates augmented reality installations by adding three-dimensional graphics and sound via global positioning satellites onto real life places. The result can only be seen through a free Junaio browser downloaded to smartphones or tablets. Using the browser as a window, the viewer wanders through the augmented reality construct in any direction. Touching the object, the viewer can hear an associated audio recording. The browser can also be used to capture a still image of this combined world of the virtual and real.
ArabLit chats with editor-in-chief Jennifer Acker and contributor Hisham Bustani on Arabic Literature and his translated piece in Issue 06.
Amherst Magazine highlights editor-in-chief Jennifer Acker’s year in Abu Dhabi and The Common‘s foray into Middle Eastern and Arabic literature.
The PEN American Center features The Common‘s interview with Shawn Vestal, author of Godforsaken Idaho, on their Recommended Reading List. Vestal has won the 2014 Shortlist PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.
The Best American Short Stories 2013, ed. Elizabeth Strout, named Jennifer Haigh’s “A Place in the Sun,” from The Common Issue 04, as a Distinguished Story of 2012.
The Best American Essays 2013, ed. Cheryl Strayed, named Rolf Potts’ “Tourist Snapshots,” from The Common Issue 03, as a Notable Essay of 2012.
The Best American Poetry 2013, ed. Denise Duhamel, included Peter Jay Shippy’s “Western Civilization” as well as Angela Veronica Wong and Amy Lawless’ “It Can Feel Amazing to Be Targeted By a Narcissist,” both from The Common Issue 03.
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Celebrating 15 Years