Some people hope short fiction will save the world. Or, at least, they hope that within the carefully designed pages of the latest anthology or journal, a bastion of TRUTH will call out to them. Fiction writers are expected to trigger epiphanies; to elicit congruence from our jumbled up thoughts and emotions; to ask some questions and answer others.
**It is with this in mind that we come to TORPEDO Volume 2, a new assemblage of fiction, graphic fiction and illustration from Falcon vs. Monkey Falcon Wins. With a host of American contributors, this edition reflects a style of writing made popular by McSweeney’s and THIS AMERICAN LIFE.
Like any work that groups varied contributions, TORPEDO delivers a mix of the cutting edge and the overdone. Design and illustration wise, this volume is distinctly boy-flavoured, but there is pith here beyond aesthetics. Our preferences include Luke May’s strange piece set at Hanging Rock, Josephine Rowe’s three-part elegy and Tony D’Souza’s satirical ‘11/9′, which asks the real question: after Obama, will the next president be Condi Rice or John Travolta? Fiction better save the world.
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Martha Marcy May MarleneWriter-director Sean Durkin’s debut feature is subtly, almost perfectly calibrated between idyllic and terrifying, all the way to its chillingly...
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WeekendThough it’s a small film, Weekend grabs at a lot of big ideas that will needle you long after it ends. Writer/director Andrew Haigh crafts...
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An interview with OFWGKTAComplete this sentence: If Odd Future were elected president, we would… Tyler – Make skateboarding legal and have a national titty...
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Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyWhere Ian Fleming’s espionage is flip and glamorous, John Le Carré’s is dreary and cynical; George Smiley is the anti-James Bond. Still,...
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Woollen Kits, ‘Woollen Kits’ ...If it was early nineties Spin magazine would no doubt be calling this ‘slacker’ rock and yes it has a loose and relaxed feel but...
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Poolside Boners: an owner’s manual ...Most of the men who read this publication are well through puberty, but not so far through it they’ve forgotten the sheer humiliation that...