The Barcelona Review. International Review of Contemporary Fiction. Including poetry (audio), interviews, quizzes and book reviews. Bi-monthly

TBR 27
Welcome to issue 27. This time round we have fiction by Scottish writer Suhayl Saadi, whose story "Bandanna" follows a young boy who tries to turn his back on his Pakistani heritage – but, as his Glaswegian accent sprinkled with Urdu would indicate, it’s not so easy. From the U.S., the delightful writer of outcasts and outlaws, James Carlos Blake, offers a short portrait of "la vida loca" on the Tex-Mex border; while Patricia Duncker from Wales (author of Hallucinating Foucault) focuses on the tribulations of a shaky marriage. And from Ireland Chris Reid glimpses an on-the-dole bloke who’s trying to think positively, while American writer Karen Seashore from Idaho views the relationship of a young couple in the backwoods. It’s a diverse collection of sharp and engaging fiction, which we hope you’ll enjoy.
B

Short Fiction

Suhayl Saadi
Bandanna

James Carlos Blake
La Vida Loca

Patricia Duncker
Death Before Dishonour

Chris Reid
Scorin' for Ireland

Karen Seashore
Harvest

Picks from Back Issues

Dorothy Speak
The View from Here

Javier Marías
Fewer Scruples

Articles

Review of em three

Film Festival of Catalunya:
Japanese anime

Quiz

Joyce Carol Oates

Answers to
Virginia Woolf Quiz

Book Reviews

The Sweetest Dream
by Doris Lessing

Shamanspace
by Steve Aylett

Translated Accounts
by James Kelman

Our "Picks from Back Issues" include Canadian author Dorothy Speak , whose short story "The View From Here" is one of our all-time favorites and has proved a hit with readers; and from Spain, we bring up a story by Javier Marías, one of the best-known names in his country.

Two articles this issue: a review of em three, an exciting third edition of a fiction mag from the U.K. that comes with new music as well (CD velcroed to the book); and a look at two new Japanese anime films recently shown at the Film Festival of Catalunya.

No winners on our Virginia Woolf Quiz last issue, but close calls from Jo Bennie and Ezra Mark. This issue’s quiz is on Joyce Carol Oates. Give it a try; a free book goes to the winner.

Be sure to check out book reviews and have a look through TBR archives - over four years’ worth of some of the best international contemporary fiction around. If you’d like to be informed when new issues are available, just click here and write "subscribe" or "qué pasa" in the Subject Box. We’ll be back around the first week of January. In the meantime, read and enjoy . . .

Jill Adams, editor
The Barcelona Review is a registered non-profit cultural association

We'd like to dedicate this issue to Ken Kesey.
Apart from the obvious books by Kesey, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe is essential reading to get a feel for the early life and times of this merriest of Merry Pranksters.
We'll miss you Ken...

For more information about TBR, conditions, etc. please see TBR info. For submission information please read our guidelines. If you would like to be informed when new issues are available, you can subscribe - all for free - by sending a blank e-m@il to TBR with "Subscribe" or "¿Qué pasa?" in the Subject box and leave the message part blank. Your name will not be used for any other purpose. For any other comments/questions, please use a different Subject title
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Remember to check out our archives...

With five years' worth of short fiction, plays & interviews from such diverse talents as Douglas Coupland, Irvine Welsh, Pinckney Benedict, G.K. Wuori, Scott Heim, A.M. Homes, Alan Warner, Poppy Z. Brite, Laura Hird, Elissa Wald, Jason Starr, Brian Evenson and new kids on the Net like William Cuthbertson, Aimee Krajewski, Jean Kusina, David Alexander, Lenny T and Victor Saunders. This text is the link.

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