Name: No Near Exit
ISBN: 9780982631843

Jaime Clarke

Mary Cotton

An anthology of the best works from the award-winning literary journal, Post Road, from a decade of great issues.

Writers Select Their Favorite Work from Post Road Magazine

No Near Exit

Ken Gagne

I read this anthology on and off for the better part of a year. I was constantly put off by how painfully meta it was: the editors selected the authors, then the authors selected their favorite pieces by other authors for inclusion. Some of these selections are commentaries on published works, so if you haven't read the referenced text, you have no context for the response. 

On the other hand, some of the original pieces were brilliant. "Waiting Room" by Stacia J.N. Decker was a testament to the hope, threat, and confusion that can come from a loved one undergoing any medical procedure, no matter how big or small. "A Boy's Guide to Drinking and Dreaming" by Jonathan Ames is an amusing tale of how impressionable we authors can be by other people's writing. "Drive-in" by Dan Pope was an amusing tale of adolescent awkwardness. And some of the "twenty questions" Q&As with published authors were insightful — especially Tom Perrotta, and especially not David Mamet, whom I would consider a hostile witness. The musical script to "Tonya and Nancy" was not, nor was "Matthew Barney versus Donkey Kong".

Unfortunately, the book was poorly copy-edited, with spaces between words disappearing, extraneous line breaks appearing, and high-ASCII characters appearing as garbage.

Overall, the book was not a sterling recommendation for Post Road magazine, though I also got the impression it might be intended for more literary, high-brow readers than myself.(less)

No Near Exit Writers Select Their Favorite Work from Post Road Magazine

Reviews

Highlights