Tag Archives: Fiction

The Trial

Posted on February 11, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the posthumous publication of Franz Kafka’s chilling novel of the nightmare world of authoritarian repression and merciless bureaucracy. I remember reading the book only after I saw Orson Welles’ chilling film production. Somehow … Continue reading →

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Rules for Writing

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules of writing: Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root … Continue reading →

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Jane Austen : Revolutionary

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I never thought that the English novelist Jane Austen was a revolutionary, but what do I know. In the video below, Evan Puschak explains, with examples, what free indirect speech is, why Austen employed it, and why it was so … Continue reading →

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Are these really the best books of 2023

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Every year at this time we are inundated with “Best Books of the Year” lists. I’ll admit that I scroll through the lists in search of reading recommendations and guidance. So, here’s a long list of lists for our perusal … Continue reading →

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AI Fictions

Posted on September 11, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Take That Trip

Posted on August 27, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

It’s hard to believe that the inimitable Anthony Bourdain has been gone for five years. Unlike most folks, I discovered his writing through his first novel Bone in the Throat in the early 1990s and not via his culinary or … Continue reading →

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Microfiction

Posted on June 11, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“A Continuity of Parks” by Julio Cortázar translated by Paul Blackburn He had begun to read the novel a few days before. He had put it down because of some urgent business conferences, opened it again on his way back … Continue reading →

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“What is the purpose of all this?”

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in His cosmic loneliness. And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done.” And God created every … Continue reading →

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Happy Short Story Month

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

May is Short Story Month so why not celebrate by reading some classic short fiction. Here’s a list of short story collections worth visiting this month, or any time. James Baldwin’s Going to Meet the Man J. G. Ballard’s The Complete … Continue reading →

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The supply of strange ideas is not endless.

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“The Flight of Pigeons from the Palace” by Donald Barthelme In the abandoned palazzo, weeds and old blankets filled the rooms. The palazzo was in bad shape. We cleaned the abandoned palazzo for ten years. We scoured the stones. The … Continue reading →

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