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.
January 27, 2014

2014 Reading: Haints by Clint McCown

Haints by Clint McCown This book is a fine example of the novel in stories or story cycle that more resembles Winesburg, Ohio (the granddaddy…
January 24, 2014

NPR Interview Aired Today

I recently was interviewed by Martha Woodroof for “The Spark,” a program about creativity that airs on WMRA–the NPR station for the central Shenandoah…
January 23, 2014

Register for Split This Rock Poetry Festival

The Split This Rock Poetry Festival is fast approaching. The dates this year are March 27-30. Check out the great lineup for this year’s…
January 22, 2014

2014 Reading: The Benghazi Hoax by David Brock, Ari Rabin-Havt, Media Matters

The Benghazi Hoax I highly recommend this book about the Benghazi attacks, especially if you are someone who has given the slightest credence to…
January 21, 2014

2014 Reading: The Biology of Luck by Jacob Appel

The Biology of Luck by Jacob Appel I enjoyed this New York City-based re-imagining of the Odyssey (or Joyce’s Ulysses). I published a review of the…
January 21, 2014

2014 Reading: Zealot by Reza Aslan

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan I found this to be a fascinating book and, because I didn’t have…
January 20, 2014

The New Yorker: “A Mistake” by Akhil Sharma

January 20, 2014: “A Mistake” by Akhil Sharma As we learn in the Q&A with Akhil Sharma, this story is “adapted from parts” of…
January 20, 2014

The New Yorker: “The Frog Prince” by Robert Coover

January 27, 2014: “The Frog Prince” by Robert Coover According to the Q&A with Robert Coover, this is a “reimagined fairy tale.” Well, yes….
January 17, 2014

2014 Reading: Transatlantic by Colum McCann

TransAtlantic: A Novel by Colum McCann As with McCann’s previous novel, the masterful Let the Great World Spin, this novel is told in strands that seem…
January 15, 2014

Ain’t Technology Amazing?

I took some time off today to head “over the mountain” (which is what we in the Central Shenandoah Valley say when we’re going…