This is the second of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.

I read Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club for a nonfiction writing workshop – it was so good that I’ve since all but given up trying to write memoir.

Karr refers to the memoir as “a love letter to my less-than-perfect clan” in the introduction to the tenth anniversary edition—perhaps a bit of an understatement. Liars’ Club opens with Karr’s mother brandishing a kitchen knife at her two young daughters and continues to unfold as Karr lays bare every detail of her shocking childhood—from rape to alcoholism to mental illness, it’s all here.

What’s most astonishing about Liars’ Club is the tenderness that infuses these incredible tales: Karr paints her family with a love that manages to surpass the gun-wielding, alcohol-soaked craziness that defined her young life. Instead of condemning this wild family, the reader comes away with an awe and respect for characters portrayed so honestly that we can’t help but feel as if we know them.

The book gets its name from the group of fishing buddies that would gather to tell... more »

This is the first of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.

Since I’m about to start an intense grad program in journalism, I’ve been making the best of my time by reading fiction at every opportunity. And since I’ve spent most of my life reading (and appreciating) the white dudes, I decided to only read non-white dudes for pleasure reading for the next year or two. And what better place to turn than the Fringe Pool?

I recently finished Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss. And wow, this was a beautifully written book set in the tumultuous area of northern India. The main narrative belongs to Sai, an orphaned Indian girl who lives with her eccentric grandfather, an ex-judge. Almost equal narrative time is given to her Grandfather, their cook, and the cook’s son. At times, these perspective shifts were frustrating, breaking up the fluidity of the narrative, especially since the plot lines didn’t interact so much as develop the major theme of the book — post-colonialism.

In particular, Desai is concerned with the emotional toll of colonialism, which she approaches through... more »

Here it is, the Fringe Pool! After reviewing publication dates and writers’ backgrounds, I compiled this list from suggestions tendered by the Fringe staff, several Emerson Professors, and my mother’s book club. Folks often suggested several books by one author, so I chose a single work as necessary. Got suggestions for additional books? Put ‘em in the comments!

Happy reading.

*Allison, Dorothy. Bastard Out of Carolina (Plume: 1993)
* Barrett, Andrea. Middle Kingdom (1991)
*Bloom, Amy. Away (2007)
*Burton, Gabrielle. Heartbreak Hotel (1985)
* Chang, Samantha. Inheritance (2004)
* Cisernos, Sandra. Caramelo (2002)
* Cliff, Michelle. Free Enterprise (1993)
* Cunningham, Michael. The Hours (1999)
* Divakaruni, Chitra. The Mistress of Spices (1997)
*Desai, Anita. Fasting, Feasting (1999)
*Desai, Kiran. The Inheritance of Loss (2006)
*Ducornet, Rikki. The Fountains of Neptune (1989)
*Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. (2002)
*Fremont, Helen. After Long Silence (1999)
*Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love (2006)
*Holmes, A.M. The End of Alice (1996)
* Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner (2003)
*Jen, Gish. Typical American (1991)
*Jones, Gayl. Corregidora (1987)
*Karr, Mary. The Liar’s Club (1995)
*Kincaid, Jamaica. Autobiography of My Mother (1995)
*Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible (1998)
*Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Fifth Book of Peace (2004)
*Krauss, Nicole. The History of Love (2005)
*Lahiri,Jumpa. The Namesake (2003)
*Lee, Chang-rae. Native Speaker (1995)
*Lee, Don. Country of Origin (2004)
*Lewis, Heather. Notice (2004)
*Livesey, Margot. Eva Moves the Furniture (2002)
*Mason, Bobbie Ann. In Country (1985)
*McBride, James. The Color of Water (1996)
*McLarin,... more »

Remember the New York Times list of the top twenty five books of the last twenty five years? I decried it for being racist, sexist, and a few other ists in this blog post.

Well, I’ve never been one to criticize without taking action. I am pleased to announce that we here at Fringe have decided to make our own list of the Best 25 Novels of the Last 25 Years. However, the rules for voting are a bit complicated. Because we think that the NYT’s oversight of minority writers resulted from lack of awareness of these writers rather than aggressive racism/sexism,(although the list of judges was a little over 25% women, pretty pitiful) our methodology is aimed at overcoming this hurdle.

Here is how it will work:

*Fringe staffers will create a Pool of recent novels, written solely by writers who are non-white, non-male, non-straight, or some combination thereof. Look for an unofficial version of the Pool on the blog in the next few weeks. The official Pool will appear in our August issue.

*In order to vote for Fringe’s Best 25 Novels of the Last 25 Years, you have to read at least two books from the Pool. For each additional book... more »