Author: Heavy Feather

[Sic], a Dead/Book plagiarism by Davis Schneiderman, reviewed by Paul Albano

Davis Schneiderman’s writing is typically propelled by a kind of palpable kinetic energy—an explosive proliferation of images, concepts, ideas, and well … words that collide and intersect in the strangest of ways. This is most evident in his 2010 novel Drain, set in the desiccated basin of what used to be Lake Michigan, amidst a…
Nick Kocz on Nine Rabbits, an autobiographical novel by Virginia Zaharieva (trans. Angela Rodel)

Manda, Virginia Zaharieva’s fictional alter-ego in her intensely autobiographical first novel, Nine Rabbits, leads the kind of wild, globe-trotting life that would make most people envious. A successful poet, magazine publisher, television and radio personality, mother, and psychoanalyst, she’s dogged throughout her life by the abuse she suffered as a young girl at the hands…
Hill William, a new novel by Scott McClanahan, reviewed by Thomas Baughman

Scott McClanahan is one of the rising stars of the Indie Lit World. He has published several story collections and his novel-in-stories, Crapalachia: A Biography of Place has received considerable praise from reviewers. Now he has published his second novel, which is also a novel-in-stories, which I was excited to read and am now proud…
Contributors’ Corner: Luke Wiget

Welcome to our new interview series, “Contributors’ Corner,” where we open the floor each week to one of our contributors to the journal. This week, we hear from Luke Wiget, whose story “An Instrument” appears in HFR 3.3. Luke Wiget is a writer and musician born and raised in Santa Cruz, California who lives in Brooklyn, New York.…
Crystal Eaters, a new novel by Shane Jones, reviewed by Michael Goroff

A few personal notes before I dive full-tilt into this review of Shane Jones’ new novel, Crystal Eaters, that will, hopefully, over the course of the review, become apparently non-self-serving and more edifying about the nature of this book: 1. The day I started reading Crystal Eaters, my cat was in the hospital with kidney…
Gabino Iglesias on The Number of Missing, a novel by Adam Berlin

September 11 is a date that will forever live in the memories of those who were alive when the Twin Towers crumbled. The devastation was felt around the world, but it touched New Yorkers in ways that only they can understand, especially if the tragedy affected them directly via the loss of a loved one.…
Contributors’ Corner: Britt Melewski

Welcome to our new interview series, “Contributors’ Corner,” where we open the floor each week to one of our contributors to the journal. This week, we hear from Britt Melewski, whose story/poem “Scharky” appears in HFR 3.3. Britt Melewski grew up in New Jersey and Puerto Rico. His poems have appeared in Puerto del Sol, The Philadelphia Review of…
Chrono Trigger, nonfiction by Michael P. Williams, reviewed by Jeremy Behreandt

My hat goes off to Michael P. Williams immediately, for it is nothing but ambitious to write on Chrono Trigger. For one thousand readers, one thousand Hamlets; for one thousand players, one thousand Cronos. Released by Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) on the Super Nintendo in 1995, the videogame is considered one of the best JRPGs. Essays…
The Holy Ghost People, a dramatic lyric by Joshua Young, reviewed by Merridawn Duckler

Plays are like frogs. They start life in a form that scarcely seems to resemble the final product. What whirls to life on a dynamic stage is usually begun flat on the page. And, as far as writing goes, written plays don’t get much respect. The Guardian’s theater critic Lyn Gardner thinks it’s the “brazenly…