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 24, 2015

2015 Reading: A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison This novel is the February selection of my bookclub, Reading Liberally. Our discussion this week should be…
February 20, 2015

Reading Liberally — a political bookclub

Five years ago, I started the Staunton chapter of Reading Liberally, an offshoot of the national orgazination Living Liberally (which includes the more popular group…
February 19, 2015

The New Yorker: “Kino” by Haruki Murakami

February 23 & March 2, 2015: “Kino” by Haruki Murakami The story is about a Japanese man who works for a sporting goods company…
February 17, 2015

The New Yorker: “Camilo” by Alejandro Zambra

May 26, 2014: “Camilo” by Alejandro Zambra In this story, the narrator is a young boy when his father’s godson comes to visit for…
February 16, 2015

2015 Reading: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery I’m not sure what to think of this book. On the one hand, I recognize that much…
February 16, 2015

The New Yorker: “The Waitress” by Robert Coover

May 19, 2014: “The Waitress” by Robert Coover The Q&A with Robert Coover doesn’t help. I’m just not a fan of these reimagined fairy…
February 15, 2015

The New Yorker: “Labyrinth” by Amelia Gray

February 16, 2015: “Labyrinth” by Amelia Gray In the Q&A with Amelia Gray we learn that the story is a retelling of the Theseus…
February 14, 2015

The New Yorker: “The Fugitive” by Lyudmila Ulitskaya

May 12, 2014: “The Fugitive” by Lyudmila Ulitskaya Q&A with Lyudmila Ulitskaya It’s unfair, I suppose, to apply American standards of story-telling to a…
February 11, 2015

WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW reviewed at Late Last Night Books

You go months or years without a review and then two are published in the same week. Go figure. Please check out this review…
February 10, 2015

2015 Reading: Unpacking the Boxes by Donald Hall

Unpacking the Boxes: A Memoir of a Life in Poetry by Donald Hall Over the years I have read an occasional Donald Hall poem, but…