Freeman's: Arrival
The Best New Writing on Arrival
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A new literary journal arrives on the scene with unpublished works from such superstars as Dave Eggers, Louise Erdrich, Haruki Murakami, and others.
In this inaugural edition of Freeman's, a new biannual of unpublished writing, former Granta editor and NBCC president John Freeman brings together the best new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry about that electrifying moment when we arrive.
Strange encounters abound. David Mitchell meets a ghost in Hiroshima Prefecture; Lydia Davis recounts her travels in the exotic territory of the Norwegian language; and in a Dave Eggers story, an elderly gentleman cannot remember why he brought a fork to a wedding. End points often turn out to be new beginnings. Louise Erdrich visits a Native American cemetery that celebrates the next journey, and in a Haruki Murakami story, an aging actor arrives back in his true self after performing a role, discovering he has changed, becoming a new person.
Featuring startling new fiction by Laura van den Berg, Helen Simpson, and Tahmima Anam, as well as stirring essays by Aleksandar Hemon, Barry Lopez, and Garnette Cadogan, who relearned how to walk while being black upon arriving in NYC, Freeman's announces the arrival of an essential map to the best new writing in the world.
"A terrific anthology . . . Haruki Murakami, David Mitchell and a host of other lively writers let loose their imaginations in editor John Freeman's first outing with a new literary journal that is sure to become a classic in years to come." —San Francisco Chronicle
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The latest installment in a series of themed anthologies from Freeman (How to Read a Novelist) explores, as his introduction notes, multiple "vectors of power," and not simply the "flagrant and breathtaking abuses of power ongoing right now." The selections range from prose nonfiction to poetry and graphic essay, and come from such long-established authors as Margaret Atwood and Julia Alvarez, as well as newer voices like Nicole Im and Edouard Louis. In "A Note on Penelope' & Rereading the Classics,' " Alvarez recalls breaking with the domination of the literary canon by "works mostly by white male writers." In "On Sharks and Suicide," Im writes intimately about powerlessness in relation to suicidal thoughts. Some pieces are searing in their search for answers. For example, in "Captive," Nimmi Gowrinathan finds the Stockholm syndrome framework inadequate for understanding female kidnapping victims who seem to identify with their captors, because "it is in fact a lifetime of oppressive moments the dark molecular makeup of her politics that matters." From the abstract to the literal, there is no shortage of provocative, thoughtful pieces here.
