The Barcelona Review. International Review of Contemporary Fiction

TBR 18 years oldWelcome to our 18th anniversary issue.  We assume most of you have been born that long, but maybe not!  Google hasn’t.  For some rollicking good fun we kick off with two stories by writer and actor B.J. Novak, best known for his work on the comedy series The Office. One of These Days We Have To Do Something About Willie follows up on four guys one year out of university, three of whom think party-boy Willie is in need of some help; while Julia and the Warlord shows the bizarre hookup that can come from an online contact.   

Next up is Mose in the Morning by writer Molly Giles, who gives us a delightful comic character of her own in Mose, a laidback Vietnam vet who claims a high IQ, which you need “to stay poor as long as he has.”

Christopher Cervelloni presents a future glimpse of the U.S., specifically Baltimore, through the eyes of a young boy. There is a Revolution going on “far out West” but will it reach the East? His parents are concerned, but our young boy only wants to play baseball.

In picks from back issues we feature two superb stories—WLUV by Emily Carter; and Anne Marie by Scottish writer Anne Donovan.

Our quiz this issue is on Terrorism in Contemporary Literature.  Answers to the quiz from our last issue on Daniel Woodrell can be found here. Our winner, once again, is Aalooran Rahman Bora.  Felicidades!

Book reviews
include the English translation of Victus by Albert Sánchez Piñol, and Indolence by Alison Wellford. Both come highly recommended.

Local News:  Politically, the hot news nationally has all been on the soaring rise of PODEMOS (WE CAN) as led by the charismatic young Marxist Pablo Iglesias, a political science professor and activist who spearheaded the Indignados movement in 2011 (Spain’s version of Occupy Wall Street). Local elections are held this June while national elections are held next November. For a close look at Iglesias watch a video of him at The Center for Place, Culture and Politics at CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, chaired by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now; or read this informative article from a recent article in The Guardian. It’s a toss-up at the moment whether his popularity has peaked or will seat him as Spain’s new prime minister.  Stay tuned.

Love and peace from Barcelona,


Jill

email TBR

 
     
español | català | français | book reviews | TBR archives | submission info | TBR info | links |

©2008 The Barcelona Review