Ramble House, a small operation in Mississippi, has brought back into print a great many books that most readers have forgotten or never knew existed. One of this publisher’s recent ventures is a five-volume set of the pulp stories of Day Keene. Keene was best known for his paperback original novels in the 1950s and 1960s, but his short stories have all the virtues of the novels: fast-moving plots, quirky characters, and lean prose among them. The titles of the volumes in this series are League of the Grateful Dead, We Are the Dead, Death March of the Dancing Dolls, The Case of the Bearded Bride, and A Corpse Walks in Brooklyn. Each collection has a short introduction written especially for that volume. (I wrote the introduction for the third.)
Short Stories
Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Naomi Hirahara’s powerful new book, Clark and Division, follows the Ito family in 1944.
Thursday, 18 October 2018
"For me, the books I read were the call—the call to adventure, to thinking, to acknowledging other points of view. But to complete the ritual, I needed to respond."
Saturday, 16 June 2018
I am surrounded by books. Every room, every space in my large, sprawling 1750s house is full of books...
Monday, 30 April 2018
Our history and experiences can define us, inspire our actions, and as writers impact our words and stories. Mine most definitely has: my father was a small-time gangster. Really.
Thursday, 12 April 2018
"My ah-ha moment came when I read The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.... That was it for me – I was off to the races."
Sunday, 01 April 2018
Nietzsche once wrote, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”
Thursday, 15 February 2018
"Mystery books were daring and exciting, firing up my imagination and making me yearn to become a girl detective or even a secret agent. They also empowered me to make up impromptu ghost stories around the campfire for my Girl Scout troop and sneak into the cemetery at night on a dare."
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Fire and Ashes, the latest Angela Richman Death Investigator mystery, is an exploration of a fatal fire. To research this novel, Viets delved into the devastating consequences of junk science and arson investigations.
