BlackbirdFrom the Print
The girl walked slowly into the park. She had a heavy sack on her back. When she reached the man’s gravestone, she swung the pack from her shoulder…
The Humors
For more than two thousand years, from ancient Greece to nineteenth century Europe, the theory of humorism dominated Western medical thought. Four different writers give their take on the humors.
Interview with Romanian Novelist Dumitru Tsepeneag
Dumitru Tsepeneag began his literary career in the dissident milieu of mid 1960s Bucharest, before being forced into exile in Paris in the mid 1970s. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Tsepeneag returned to his native country—and he remains today one of the most important and accomplished living Romanian authors.
"The Moral Animals" & Other PoemsFrom the Print
The radio animals travel in lavender clouds. They are always chattering, they are always cold…
Anna Karenina’s Baby Shower
I recently saw an invitation to Anna Karenina’s baby shower. It was not at the library or the Hermitage. It was online at the site of Paperless Post…
Review: William Gillespie’s "Keyhole Factory"From the Print
Keyhole’s originality derives from its countless plot strands and typographical experiments, which are deployed to formally mirror its apocalyptic content, creating chaos in terms of structure as well as subject matter…
A Scorcher, Some Brewskies…How Strange, How SimpleFrom the Print
In June 1989, the worst railroad disaster in Soviet history occurred in the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic near the village of Ulu-Telyak…
Selected Movies: Part I
Each day it’s the war drums begin me. // I brush your flamingo of silence I oil my wings. / I limp to my basin and wash.
Slideshow: Meet the Editors
The American Reader is a brand new literary journal, and runs on enthusiasm, passion, and most of all, your support. So thank you! And welcome to our home.
The Mary CasketFrom the Print
[FLOOR] In the foyer: a walnut floor. The cracks near the door create a triangular pattern. There are water scars at the foot of the stairs. I scrape cobwebs from the baseboards with a dull knife. … Continued