Book Reviews: July/August 2007
THE RED ANTHOLOGY OF HITHERTO UNKNOWN WRITERS
—By Staff, Utne Reader
Utne Reader July / August 2007 Issue


from the editors of No Record Press (No Record)

Many fiction anthologies organize around a theme, or they present writers of a particular age, gender, or ethnicity. But beneath the overt parameter, there often lurks another limitation--the polished prose of the MFA workshop, that golden gateway to getting published. Screw that, say the editors of No Record Press, who assembled this anthology of "wholly unprofessional writers." Among the 14 contributors are a 16-year-old math whiz, a former Yale divinity school professor, and the worst college football player in America ("statistically verifiable"). There are excellent moments: "Flesh," set in a kosher slaughterhouse, employs razor-sharp imagery; "Organ Donation," told by a disembodied, mentally disabled narrator, rings with spot-on tone. As a group, these stories are irregular and at times indulgent, but wholly uninhibited--a refreshing change of pace. -Julie Hanus

Utne Reader review of The Red Anthology original page