Queers Destroy Fantasy!

I was honored to be the nonfiction editor for a special issue of Fantasy magazine, part of the ever-growing Destroy series from Lightspeed, Nightmare, and Fantasy — this time, QUEERS DESTROY FANTASY!

The editor-in-fabulousness/fiction editor was Christopher Barzak, the reprints editor was Liz Gorinsky, and the art editor was Henry Lien. Throughout this month, some pieces will be put online. So far, Austin Bunn's magnificent story "Ledge" is now available, as are our various editorial statements. More will be released later, but most of the pieces I commissioned are only available by purchasing the ebook [also available via Weightless] or paperback. There are magnificent pieces by Mary Anne Mohanraj, merritt kopas, Keguro Macharia, Ekaterina Sedia, and Ellen Kushner, and only merritt's "Sleepover Manifesto" will be online.

I owe huge thanks to all the contributors I worked with, to the other editors, to managing editor Wendy Wagner who did lots of unsung work behind the scenes, and to John Joseph Adams, who kindly asked me to join the team.

Jamie Marks Is Dead

  
Jamie Marks Is Dead is based on a book I love by a writer I love: One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak. I realized recently that I think of it as the first novel of "our" generation/group of writers — Chris is a few months older than me, and originally introduced me to probably half the writers and editors I know. I read One for Sorrow in manuscript, exhorted Juliet Ulman to buy and edit it for Bantam, and celebrated its publication. Chris sent me a copy with the kindest inscription penned onto its title page that any writer has ever given me. I feel like a kind of distant (crazy) uncle to the book, and thus also deeply protective toward it. I didn't read most of the reviews when it was released for fear that I would seek out any negative reviewers and do terrible things to them that would get me arrested.  When I found out it was being made into a movie, I was both excited for Chris and for the higher profile the book would likely gain, and terrified that the movie would just be awful. I mumbled to myself for weeks about the change of title before coming to accept it.

The movie was officially released in some major US cities today, and the distributor is also doing a simultaneous release on video-on-demand (Amazon, iTunes, etc.), so those of us, at least in the US, who can't get to one of the cities it's playing in can still see it. I watched it this morning.

The movie is not awful — far from it — and though at first I had my crazy-uncle fists clenched, ready to pounce on anything that even touched a hair of my beloved nephew's head, it was soon clear that this was a movie made from not only a general understanding of the book, but a profound sympathy with it. They're very different creatures, but if you love One for Sorrow, I think you're likely to love Jamie Marks Is Dead, too.

A Decade of Archives 6: 2007

This is the sixth in a series of posts leading up to this blog's tenth anniversary on August 18. In each post, I look back on one year, sometimes specifically and sometimes generally. All the posts can be found here.

I'm Not There

2007 began with an outtake from an interview I did with Juliet Ulman of Bantam Books and ended with a rather mysterious announcement on December 24 that I would need to take a break from blogging for a while. The reason for the hiatus was something I discussed in the previous post: my father's death. I last talked with him on my cell phone as I was walking home after seeing Tim Burton's movie of Sweeney Todd, a review of which was the last substantive post I wrote that year; the next afternoon, I got the call from the New Hampshire State Police. The only thing I managed to write between the announcement of my absence and then my later return was a column for Strange Horizons that adds some context to it all, "Of Muses and Ghosts".

One of the reasons for the eventual turn to highlighting film here more often than before, and to doing more and more with film analysis and production in my life, is that it was and is a way of keeping the good memories of my father present and sending all the truckloads of bad stuff to go die with him. Movies were the one thing we incontrovertibly shared, the one thing we could discuss and enjoy together, and my taste in film is/was inextricably bound to his.

There's a Mountain Goats song to go with this (as there is a Mountain Goats song to go with everything), appropriately from the New Asian Cinema EP, "Cao Dai Blowout", which ends:

When the ghost of your father starts pushing you around,
how are you going to make him stop?
I took down all the crosses,
I let him set up shop.

Appropriately for this post, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats also recently expressed quite well what it is like to search through the archives of things you've created: "exhuming the corpses I became at several turns between then and now."

Looking back on 2007 sure feels more like exhuming corpses than the later years have. Some of this has to do with the split I was talking about last time between life before the fall of 2007 and life after. Looking back over 2008, I could read just the titles of almost all of the posts, and certainly of all the ones that weren't just announcements and links, and have at least some memory of what the post was about. I looked at lots of post titles from 2007 and had no idea what the post contained. Reading them was often like reading something written by someone else, someone familiar but now unreachable.

Recent Reading

Blogging always slows to a crawl during the second half of a semester, but I was surprised to see that it's been almost a month since I last posted here. Egads. I've hardly had a moment to breathe, though.

For now, I just want to capture a few moments of reading from the recent weeks.

Game, Life, Class

By now, you've probably seen John Scalzi's post "Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is" (and perhaps John's amusing commentary on deleted comments and follow-up post in response to some responses).

My post here is simply to point you toward three responses among the many, many, many that the post has drawn. Excerpts are here merely to entice you to read more, not to suggest that they are the only things you need to read from these excellent writers.

First, Nick Mamatas:

...when class is fully integrated into an understanding of the difficulty setting of the Game of Life, I think the arguments get much clearer.

The question: "I'm a poor white guy; should I fight against systems of privilege?"

The answer: "Because you'll benefit from it. The more equal things are, the better off you are."

For rich white guys who ask the same question, well, they're clearly on the other side, so they don't need an answer.

Next, Meghan McCarron:

All too often, Straight White Men do not see that their setting is easier, and they assume that those struggling against bigger challenges are simply poorer players. At first this is innocent — the Straight White Men are focused on surviving the game themselves, after all. They didn’t design it. But the “easy” setting’s invisibility breeds arrogance, not the humility necessary to acknowledge that you’re “winning” the game because a. the game is easier for you and b. the game itself is designed to benefit you most. The fact that privilege robs us of empathy and humility is nearly as poisonous as the advantages it brings, because humble, empathetic people would not gleefully skip through difficulty while leaving others to suffer.

And then Christopher Barzak:

What I’d like to add to John’s and Meghan’s furthering of Life on the Lowest Setting, the metaphor of privilege as a function of how easy or difficult life is based on character aspects, is that class does indeed count.  If you’re a highborn mage instead of a lowly farmer’s son who happens to have a small knack for casting magic, you’ll receive all the best teachers, all the best training in the arcane arts, will have access to all of the materials you might need to cast a spell, which can be quite expensive.  Or likewise, if you’re a highborn knight, you’ll receive all the best armor and weaponry and training in arms and defense, whereas the pub master’s kid will mainly know how to throw a punch and will swing wild without any really access to training.

Those are material considerations–the wealth aspect, or knowledge resources–to which a person of a certain socioeconomic identity generally has little access.

But class cultural considerations can also severely restrict some people, by learning your place, by taking direction because that’s what you were rewarded for, rather than learning to plan and set goals, rather than being among people who value reading and education or even networking beyond one’s own family in order to have greater opportunities in the warp and weft of our social order.  And these are inherent to one’s personal nature if you have grown up in those conditions.

Nebula, Nebulae

Dear Nebula Voters,

I know what your real purpose is with the nominees for this year's award.  Don't think you can hide your secret, conspiratorial goals from me!  I know what you really want to do is cause me immense angst by putting some of my favorite people up against each other in your various (nefarious!) categories.  You know when it comes to awards I root for the people I know and like before I even consider anything else, because of course the people I know and like are all the greatest writer in the world, but what am I supposed to do when you, for instance, put VanderMeer up against Barzak in the novel category?!

I'm safe, at least, with the short story category.  Jim Kelly is the only writer I know well there, so obviously he should win.  Novelette is worse -- Paolo Bacigalupi is the one person whose short stories have caused me to write a long essay, and he's a really nice guy (well, as long as you don't burn lots of hydrocarbons in front of him.  I tried digging an oil well at the World Fantasy Convention in 2005, and he threatened to punch me).  Rachel Swirsky I've communicated with regarding Best American Fantasy (we reprinted her story "How the World Became Quiet: A Post-Human Creation Myth" in BAF 2, and all of the BAF contributors feel like family to me, even if I never talk to them, which is mostly what makes them feel like family...)  And then there's Mr. Bowes, who once attacked me with a stiletto-heeled shoe when I suggested that Cats is not the greatest musical of all time.  I've forgiven him, even though Starlight Express is obviously the greatest musical of all time, and in learning forgiveness, I have learned to appreciate the man himself, and so of course I want him to win as much as I want Paolo and Rachel to win.  Maybe they all can.  (Voters!  Coordinate your efforts to please me!)

Novella is actually easy, too, because the only person there I've met is John Scalzi, and he's alright, even if I remain dead to him.

But the novel category ... it's killing me.  I'm going to have to freebase my entire collection of pill-bottle cotton tonight just to calm my aching soul.  Not only are Messrs. Barzak and VanderMeer, two of my favorite people, present there, but Paolo Bacigalupi is hanging out in that category as well, and so is China Mieville with The City & The City, a book I adored.  And though I don't know Cherie Priest, I know her editor, who is also one of my favorite people, and thus is, by definition, the greatest editor in the world.

Okay, Nebula voters -- I give up!  Uncle!  Please please please start nominating more works by mean, nasty people I don't like!  Or at least people I don't know!  I'm working hard to be a recluse, so it shouldn't be all that difficult to locate more people I don't know.  It will save me agonized nights of writhing on the floor, my loyalties pulling me in all directions, my heart torn asunder.

What's that you say?  It's not all about me?  Yes, I've heard that before, many times.  Conspirators always deny their conspiracy.  I know the truth, though, and in the immortal words of Bob Dylan: "I don't believe you!"

Meanwhile, congratulations to all!

Sincerely,
Patient #45403892, New Hampshire State Home for the Criminally Bewildered

PS
Whoever has my tinfoil hat, you'd better return it!  Bowes!  BOWES!!!!

Stuff!

Ellen Kushner and Tempest Bradford both let me know that not only is the Interstitial Arts Foundation holding an auction of jewelry based on stories from Interfictions, but one of the pieces of jewelry is, in fact, based on my story "A Map of the Everywhere": "A Map of the Everywhere -- Boxcar Diner" by Sarah Evans.


I've tried to write something eloquent and thoughtful about how pleased I am anyone would find inspiration in something I'd written ... but basically all I want to say is: Wow! That's so cool!

In other cool news, Mumpsimus fave Chris Barzak has been nominated for the NewNowNext Awards from Logo, which is, apparently, a TV station (I don't have a TV). Chris is nominated in the "Brink of Fame: Author" category, which apparently means he's on the verge of becoming a contestant on a Bravo show. Or something. I don't know. But what I do know is you can go vote for him! Don't let Barzak Day in the Blogosphere have been for nothing, folks! Vote early, vote often! Then go bid on Sarah Evans's bracelet! Then vote again for Chris! Then bid again! Get into a feedback loop, friends! All the cool kids are doing it! Wheeee!

The Day After Barzak Day

It's the day after Barzak Day, and we're still sweeping up all the confetti here at Mumpsimus Central, but I wanted to take a moment to say how much fun it was to see all the support for Chris and his book. I just updated the link post again, most notably with Liz Hand's very positive Village Voice review. Chris has plenty of good news he'll be able to share in the future, too, so keep an eye on him.

Things around here are likely to slow down for a while, because my new job starts tomorrow, and I have no idea what sort of free time I will have. I've got a couple assignments for reviews that I need to get done, reading to do for Best American Fantasy, and one big project I've been promising myself I would devote more time to, so we shall see. But this was a great way to end the summer, and I hope everybody who participated had as much fun as I did. Thanks all.

Barzak Day in the Blogosphere

This post will be updated throughout the day with links to material about Christopher Barzak and his first novel One For Sorrow, released today. Thanks to everybody who is participating!

• Colleen Lindsay offers an in-depth interview and a classic photo. She's also giving copies of the book away!
  
• The Stage @ The Oakland is heading up the Youngstown, Ohio side of Barzak Day.
• Into My Own presents an interview with Chris.
  
• Chris guest-blogs at Gwenda Bond's place.
• Small Beer Press and LCRW (about whom more later) offer "Barzakian Secrets of the Barzakian Plan for Barzakian Galactic Domination".
• Colleen Mondor writes about Chris's short stories.
• Jason Erik Lundberg has been reading Barzak from the very beginning.
• Jeffrey Ford has some nice things to say.
• The Creativity Incubator launches a new feature, Creative Spotlight, with One for Sorrow.
• The new Science Fiction Awards Watch notes that Mr. Barzak is in their database.
• Secritcrush remembers One for Sorrow from a workshop a while back.
• Into My Own actually started Barzak Day a couple months early.
• Midori Snyder also began early, and offers a lovely review of the novel.
  
• Fantasy Book Critic notes One for Sorrow's release, and many others, plus a giveaway of other books.
• Tales from the Rustbelt reviews One for Sorrow.
  
• Mike Eats...Books?! devours One for Sorrow.
• Youngstown Renaissance joins the fun.
• Fellow Bantam author Tim Pratt reminisces, and mentions one of my favorite Barzak short stories along the way.
• Scott Westerfeld explains why, though he seldom blurbs, he wanted to blurb One for Sorrow.
• A Barzak Day post from Pittsburgh.
• Meghan McCarron on the man and his work. Fully.
  
• John Klima joins the celebration and links to some Barzak short stories online.
• Strange Horizons fiction editor Jed Hartman reminds us that Barzak has been a regular contributor to SH with fiction, reviews, and an interview.
• Strange Horizons fiction editor Karen Meisner offers some thoughts, and mentions karaoke.
• Elad Haber on friendship and Chris Barzak.
• Alan DeNiro on Barzak at Clarion and what makes this particular writer special.
• Justine Larbalestier adds a few words.
• Richard Butner remembers "Dead Boy Found" when it was a wee little workshop story.
• Haddayr Copley-Woods joins in.
• A victim of time zones, Ben Rosenbaum shows up late to the party.
  
• Brooke, who has been so instrumental with One for Sorrow's launch in Youngstown, on "Why I Love Chris Barzak"
• Elizabeth Hand reviews One for Sorrow in The Village Voice.
  

Juliet Ulman on Christopher Barzak

Bantam Senior Editor Juliet Ulman acquired Christopher Barzak's One for Sorrow and shepherded it into print.

I really have the wonderful Mumpsimus himself to thank for bringing us together. Matt and I met in person for the first time at the World Fantasy Convention in Madison, Wisconsin, and we were sitting around one night, probably resting from a bout of giggling, talking about short story authors we admired and who I'd been following. I was wishing aloud that some of my favorites had a book in them, and exclaimed in frustration, "Christopher Barzak! Now why hasn't he written a novel!?" To which Matt calmly replied, "But he has." A few minutes later, we'd established that Chris had written a novel, Matt had seen it, and Matt would pass on word that I wanted to take a look. When I got back from the convention, the manuscript was waiting for me.

Reading One for Sorrow for the first time is an experience I will never forget. I couldn't stop myself from describing the sensation to people for months afterwards, even as I realized that, at best, I was coming off as a bit odd. I remember turning page after page, a horrible storm of butterflies building in my stomach with each sentence. As I read, I felt a little lightheaded and sick. I can tell you exactly what it felt like. It felt like when you're in the throes of a tremendous crush, a crush so overwhelming that instead of feeling a little happy and silly in that person's presence, instead you feel so nervous and overtaken with that fluttery adrenalized crush feeling that it's debilitating. That is what it felt like.

As far as the book, I knew we were a match. But what about the author?

I had some editorial concerns, and I wanted to make sure that Chris and I were on the same page as far as what direction to take the book -- so we struck up a correspondence. Before we'd even negotiated the deal, we exchanged several (long!) emails back and forth while he was still in Japan, talking about the book and what we wanted for it, and also just getting to know each other and how our minds worked. We learned we both have a big love for Miyazaki, and especially My Neighbor Totoro; that we both come from very small, rural towns (his in the Midwest, mine in the Northeast) and carry them with us; and that we both believed in the same emotional heart of the book and wanted to travel on the same path. We brainstormed about how to get there, each of us tossing out ideas until typically, we'd figure out what the common core of all of our suggestions were, and find the right way to get to where we were going. It was immediate and exciting, this fizzing creative electricity. If the book and I were a match, it soon became clear to me that I'd gotten very lucky in that Chris and I had a real meeting of minds. No one but Chris could have written that book, and, for me at least, no working partnership but this one would have been quite as instinctive or fluid.

Revising One for Sorrow was a tremendously cooperative, collaborative process, and terrifically rich and rewarding for me as an editor. For some people, this kind of back-and-forth brainstorming and discussion would be done over the phone -- for us, it was the modern equivalent of letters flying back and forth, emails and emails and emails exploring our instinctive responses to the narrative, and our feelings about where it should go. This, truly, is why editors get out of bed in the morning. I really loved every minute of it, the debates, the burbling of ideas, the bright nova of light when someone hit upon something true. Chris is a thoughtful, intuitive writer, and through working on the book together, I think we learned more about each other than we could possibly have done any other way. In the end, I came to this with an electrifying crush on a beautiful, heartbreaking manuscript, and walked away with a rich, creative kinship that will stay with me even longer.

For which I will always, and happily, be in the debt of the Mumpsimus.

Barzak Day = LCRW Day

Yes, today is Barzak Day. Obviously. But it is also, and quite appropriately,The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet Day. Yes, that fine and marvelous book is being released on the same day as Mr. Barzak's One for Sorrow.

This is appropriate not just because it's appropriate for two wonderful books to be released on the same day. That is, indeed, a good thing.

But here are some facts to consider:

1. Mr. Barzak's first published story was "A Mad Tea Party" in LCRW.
2. One for Sorrow evolved from the story "Dead Boy Found", first published in Trampoline, an anthology edited by Kelly Link and published by Small Beer Press.
3. Kelly Link is co-founder of Small Beer Press, which publishes LCRW, which she co-edits, which is how she got to be co-editor of The Best of LCRW. Oh, the tangled web she weaves!
4. Kelly Link blurbed One for Sorrow, calling it, "An uncommonly good book with brains, heart, and bravery to spare. Readers who don't find themselves in sympathy with Barzak's characters were never adolescents themselves."
5. Gavin Grant, co-editor of all things LCRW and co-founder of Small Beer Press, introduced karaoke, an ancient Scottish ritual, to Japan, which is the real reason Christopher Barzak moved to Japan for two years.

Thus, Barzak Day is also LCRW Day, making this a doubly great day.

JPK on CB

Hugo and Nebula Award-winning writer James Patrick Kelly was an important mentor for Chris Barzak when the young Mr. B. was just beginning to figure out what it meant to be a writer. I asked Jim to join us in celebrating his protege's success, and here is what he had to say:

I first met and worked with Chris Barzak when he was knee high to an adverb at the Imagination Writers Workshop in Cleveland, Ohio back in the summer of 1997, and I remember sitting out on a sunny patio and telling him that he needed to apply to Clarion and then go on to have a career as a writer. I also have a vague memory of him staring back at me like I was perhaps addled by the heat. The next year we did let him into Clarion and I worked with him again and informed him he was already a writer, just one who hadn't published yet. I'm pretty sure he was starting to believe by then. Over the years I have watched with pride as he has proved me so very right. I have recently derived a formula that calculates my contribution to the careers of the talented writers I have had the privilege of helping along and I believe I am 1/679th responsible for Chris's success thus far. Go Chris! And the rest of you: stop reading blogs and pick up One for Sorrow.

Bowes on Barzak

Rick Bowes doesn't have a blog, but he's been a huge supporter of Chris Barzak for years, and so it made no sense for Barzak Day to happen without some words from him.

When asked about Barzak, here is what Bowes said:

Chris Barzak is a better dancer than any other novelist in the world. And he’s a better novelist than any dancer in the world.

And:

Chris Barzak’s car just broke down, which is a sin and a shame. I think it would be lovely if a rich patron who wished to keep his or her identity a secret would buy Chris a new car. Nothing too ostentatious or sporty (because he’ll be driving it in Youngstown, after all).Something Japanese would be good. He likes that.

Barzak Day: A Q&A; with Mr. B.

To start off Barzak Day here at The Mumpsimus, I offer Chris's responses to a questionnaire I created (mostly from other questionnaires, including The Proust Questionnaire, Tom Disch's poem "Questions Your Children are Certain to Ask", a SFWA Fantasy Worldbuilding Questionnaire, a couple of Cosmo quizzes, the book Here Speeching American, and other sources).


To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Permissiveness. I permit myself to indulge my other faults far too often. Dr. Spock didn't know what he was talking about.

Your favorite virtue?
There are too many! And from which category of virtue? Buddhist? That would be Right Mindfulness - Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness. Samurai virtues? That would be To manifest great compassion, and act for the sake of Man. Western virtues? Justice. Roman virtues? Veritas, honesty in dealing with others. Christian virtues? Love.

How do the different prohibitions grow
On fenceposts and the trunks of trees?
They don't grow. They are nailed there by busy busy prohibitionists.

How many chairs are a life?
Three? Twenty? Eighty-nine! Eighty-nine!

Do you have any favorite diseases?
The mumps. [Ed. note: not The Mumpsimus. An entirely different disease. Really. We swear.] It swells your face like a balloon. I got the mumps from a friend in Japan (Hey Katie!). Both our immunizations must have either worn off or weren't effective on the version over there. I spent a lot of time watching my jawline disappear. I thought this was kind of interesting, but only because I knew it was temporary.

What are the controversial subjects in this culture? What things will automatically start an unfriendly argument?
Controversial subjects: religion, political stance, sexuality, class.

Immediate unfriendly argument inspiring topics: Literature. I don't know how many times I've seen English majors and writers and critics brawling after that first beer. It's not a pretty thing to see.

Do you ever envy women who you think are prettier than you?
ALL THE TIME. I CAN'T STAND THOSE B*****S!!!

Do you run after your own nose?
Never. It knows better than to run off like that.

Are certain clothes customary for certain occupations -- e.g., military uniforms, judges robes/wigs, sports teams uniforms, etc.? How much variation is allowed -- could a scholar wear a day-glow green robe as long as the cut is right, or would that be too much? Is it color or style that is most important?
Well, of course certain clothes are customary for certain occupations, as you list examples. Variation should be permitted though. In both style and color. I would like to see police officers dressed in pink, bikers in crushed velvet rather than leather, strippers in wool suits, businessmen wearing sandals. Uniformity is death.

If you were a message t-shirt, you would read...
This.

Are you haunted by the horribles?
Sometimes.

Do the only real philosophical questions have to do with ontology? Are all others transcendental and therefore meaningless?
Nah.

Where do you get your ideas?
Why buy someone else's troubles? (This is also what my father says about used cars).

You're a celeb who's going to be featured in the next issue of Cosmo! In your ideal photo shoot, you'd be wearing...
Nothing but piles and piles of money and issues of Cosmo that have me on the cover covered in money and issues of Cosmo that have me on the cover covered with money and Cosmos!!

If you were a (toy) stuffed animal, what stuffed animal would you want to be?
A Catbus from Miyazaki's anime film My Neighbor Totoro. Those smile really wide and long.

Tomorrow is Barzak Day

Chris Barzak's first novel, One For Sorrow, is officially released tomorrow, and for that auspicious occasion, I have decided to do something I've not done before -- organize a multi-blog celebration of all things Barzak. I'm calling it Barzak Day in the Blogosphere, which seems to me like a perfectly humble and unassuming title.

The idea is this: various bloggers will write about Chris, about his writing, about the book -- and I will collect and link to as much of it as I know about from here, updating a post with links throughout the day. Also, there will be a couple of guest appearances here by people who have had encounters with Mr. B., and I will present a solemn and deeply meaningful exclusive Q&A; with the man himself.

Colleen Lindsay will be offering an interview with Chris as well as, I think, some free copies of the book. I actually owe the whole idea of this to Colleen, because when she announced she was doing an interview on the day of the book's release, I thought, "Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." And then I thought, "Why can't we all do something?" And so I asked around.

If you want to participate, feel free to join the fun by writing something at your blog about Chris and/or his work. Email me a link to your post and I'll add it to the collection here during the day. (This is supposed to be a day of celebration, so if you're intending to write about what a heartless creep he is for stealing your teddy bear when you were three and dressing it up like Tom of Finland, well, save that for another day.)

The reason I'm doing this is not just that Chris is a friend -- he is, and he's been a reader of this site almost since the beginning. Part of my desire to do something for Barzak Day comes from the fact that I couldn't possibly review One for Sorrow, because I got to offer feedback on early drafts and revision ideas, and I've been in contact with both Chris and his editor, Juliet Ulman, about it since before Juliet had even bought the book. I could only be more prejudiced in favor of it if I'd written it myself, and even then I might not be, since I tend to like other people's writing more than my own. Nonetheless, I think I can see through the haze of my subjectivity enough to know that this really is a good novel, one worthy of readers' time. In fact, I think the novel form fits Chris particularly well, because it allows him to delve more deeply into the emotional nuances of characters and situations than the short story form does, and I think readers who only know him through his stories will be pleasantly surprised at how well he can sustain a novel, and how much range this particular novel possesses.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow, then, and see the amazing adventures of Barzak conquering the blogosphere!