Monday, December 29, 2008

Dan Scannell's Best of 2008

Funambulism by D. Harlan Wilson
Wilson uses bizarro well, keeping it close enough to the familiar to hook the reader. You have the elements of excessive safety and the shallow expectations of audiences, but he avoids the danger of obvious allegory. What really drives the story home, though, is the concentration on things.

The Boy Who Ate the World by J.A. Tyler
This story speaks for itself. A statement about the modern world. A focused, purposeful use of magical realism.

The End of Algebra by Jimmy Chen
A look at the narrowness of modern human obsessions. Chen's prose always satisfies.

Opacities by Casey Anderson
An explication of boredom.

2 comments:

J. A. Tyler said...

thanks for the nod. much appreciated.

Spencer Troxell said...

Funambulism is a great piece of writing. I'm sorry I missed it the first time around.