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Welcome to issue 109. We begin with a story by Arthur Mandal, The Ghost in the Garden, in which a professor of European literature—whose standards in some ways are not unlike those of Giamatti in The Holdovers—must contend with a difficult neighbor, irritating faculty, and profound loss.
Next up is Great Leech by Tom Sokolowski. A young woman in need of a break from her partner takes their young boy to her deceased father’s cabin, then on a camping trip, where all eventually takes a dark turn.
Next up is Eastern Western by K.P. Taylor. In only three pages, we get a disturbing look “based on fact” into the real John Wayne and the making of the box-office bomb Genghis Kahn.
Lastly, there is Lift by Lindsay Forbes Brown. Here we follow a young boy who likes to shoot birds, after which came “the skinning and fleshing and studying of the parts.” Then come along the twin red-headed girls . . .
I love these four stories; they pull you along with fine prose and intrigue, pack a punch, and stay with you long after the reading.
In our picks from back issues— From Ireland, we have Toronto and the State of Grace by Kevin Barry and from the U.S., The Ancient Chihuahua by Gwyneth Kelly. Two super stories.
The quiz this issue is Football in Literature . Answer correctly and you’re in the running to win a 30-euro (or equivalent) gift certificate from Amazon. For answers to last issue’s quiz, Social Media in Literature, click here.
Our book review this issue is Deus X by Stephen Mack Jones, the fourth cracking crime novel in the August Snow series.
Our next issue is due out May 2024. To be notified when new issues are available, just ‘LIKE’ The Barcelona Review on Facebook (for the Spanish, LIKE Barcelona Review without the THE); or email us to subscribe (gratis, of course), though often our bulk email is blocked from servers so we cannot guarantee a notification.
Jill Adams, editor
Michael Garry Smout, tech and design
Readers: Rachel Ballenger, Diggory Dunn, Jamie Kahn, Hallie Pritts, Milena Nigam and Sam Simon
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