Author: Cliff

I am the author of three novels--THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE, OLIVER'S TRAVELS, and THE SHAMAN OF TURTLE VALLEY--and three story collections--IN AN UNCHARTED COUNTRY, HOUSE OF THE ANCIENTS AND OTHER STORIES, and WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. I am also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the award-winning anthology series EVERYWHERE STORIES: SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET.
February 10, 2016

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel by John Irving William Morrow, 1989 I can’t believe it took me this long to get to this…
February 8, 2016

Happy (Lunar) New Year!

Happy New Year! February 8 marks the start of the new year, according to the lunar calendar. This year is the Year of the…
February 7, 2016

Return to Life by Jim B. Tucker, M.D.

Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives by Jim B. Tucker St. Martin’s Press, 2013 This book has been on…
February 5, 2016

On Stage: Women Beware Women by Thomas Middleton

I saw the American Shakespeare Center’s production of Thomas Middleton’s Women Beware Women at the Blackfriars Playhouse last night. The third show mounted in this year’s…
February 4, 2016

The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin

The Forgetting Time: A Novel by Sharon Guskin Flatiron Books, February 2016 A couple of years ago, Dr. Jim B. Tucker of the Division…
February 1, 2016

Welcome to Christiania by Fred Leebron

Welcome to Christiania by Fred Leebron Outpost 19, February 2016 Fred Leebron, a former teacher of mine, is a genius. I don’t say that lightly….
January 31, 2016

Citizen by Claudia Rankine

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine Graywolf Press, 2014 This book, which is a collection of prose poetry and essays, strikes me as a…
January 30, 2016

The Other Side of Life by Andy Kutler

The Other Side of Life by Andy Kutler Neverland Publishing, 2015 I might not have come across this novel except that I’ve been asked to…
January 25, 2016

Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust

Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust Press 53, 2015 This book won the Press 53 Award for Poetry. A collection of modern sonnets, it explores the…
January 23, 2016

While the City Slept by Eli Sanders

While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man’s Descent into Madness by Eli Sanders Viking, February 2016 Eli Sanders won…