“The Posthuman Realist”: An Interview with Steve Tomasula by Marcus Pactor

Steve Tomasula is a literary pioneer of both prose and page design. Those designs transform the vast depth of his … More

“Risking Chaos”: Marcus Pactor Chats with David Leo Rice, Author of The New House

David Leo Rice writes singularly weird fiction about the experiences of artists and drifters wandering hallucinatory landscapes. His latest novel, … More

“There Was Always Something More I Had to Know”: Marcus Pactor Interviews Gabriel Blackwell

Gabriel Blackwell never repeats himself. Each of his seven books offers a distinct approach to fiction, bending forms and genres … More

Begat Who Begat Who Begat, short stories by Marcus Pactor, reviewed by Maxwell Malone

Marcus Pactor’s sophomore short story collection, Begat Who Begat Who Begat, explores the deceptively complex topics of mundanity and domesticity … More

“Back Alleys and Hidden Corners”: Marcus Pactor Interviews Brian Evenson, Author of The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell

Brian Evenson has for many years been one of America’s chief practitioners of innovative dark fiction. His work regularly adopts … More

“A Restless Sensibility”: Marcus Pactor Talks to John Domini, Author of The Archaeology of a Good Ragù

John Domini’s latest book, The Archeology of a Good Ragù: Discovering Naples, My Father, and Myself, marks his first venture … More

“The Threatening Clarities That a Sentence Can Occasion”: Marcus Pactor Interviews Garielle Lutz, Author of Worsted

Before I conducted the following interview with Garielle Lutz, I knew what all of her readers have long known: she … More

“Accidental and Inevitable”: Marcus Pactor Talks to Christian TeBordo about His Short Story Collection Ghost Engine

Christian TeBordo’s Ghost Engine has everything I always want from a short story collection. These pieces are darkly humorous, formally … More

Little Hollywood, a collection of scripts and paper doll actors by Jinnwoo, reviewed by Marcus Pactor

Jinnwoo’s Little Hollywood is an inventive, fun, and depressing collection of stories. Each short piece—none is longer than four pages—is … More

Essays One, the first nonfiction essay collection by fiction writer and translator Lydia Davis, reviewed by Marcus Pactor

Lydia Davis requires little introduction. She is well known for her innovative short fiction, her lone novel, and her many … More

Marcus Pactor on Brandi Homan’s New Novel Burn Fortune

Holden Caulfield still irritates me, though I have not read The Catcher in the Rye since before the century’s turn. … More

“More Fish Than Man,” a short story by Marcus Pactor

More Fish Than Man My cousin and I once fished under an interstate where a bent leg of swamp lay … More

Fiction by Marcus Pactor: “Cake”

Cake —after Blake Butler The cake reminded me of the twins’ wet sludge food. I could never shovel it well … More