Joan Frank

KIRKUS says YES:
Kirkus Reviews February 15, 2012

MAKE IT STAY [STARRED REVIEW!]
Author: Frank, Joan
Publisher: Permanent Press, 164 pages, $26.00, Publication Date: March

. . . Frank wraps the reader in a cocoon of finely spun images and rich similes that makes one want to return to the beginning of the book just to savor the language all over again. The “heavy sweetness of roses spilling over fences in Popsicle colors” is just one example of the vivid prose that appears on virtually every page. These images don’t distract from the story but enrich it with the help of four fully developed characters. . . . There comes a moment when everything seems perfect with the foursome, when one of the characters wants that situation to last forever, to “make it stay.” But happily-ever-afters are for fairy tales, and nothing good lasts forever.

First-class fiction.

My husband's holiday fantasy became a new piece in ZYZZYVA: "The Twelve Friends of Rodolfo and Mimi." Have a look; link to your left.

Want to be invited back? Check out AUTHOR Magazine: "Points for Good Behavior;" link at left.

NEW PUB DATE and FIRST REVIEW! The pub date for Joan's new novel MAKE IT STAY has been changed to approximately April 30, 2012. Meantime, Publishers' Weekly has weighed in. See Works site, next door.

PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINATION! --by TriQuarterly, for the essay "Never Enough," linked at left. Thrilled, and very grateful to everyone at TriQuarterly.

BOOK OF THE YEAR!
In Envy Country has won the gold for the 2011 ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Award, short story collections category. Thank you, ForeWord members and friends!

INTERVIEWS: with AUTHOR TURF and with FOREWORD REVIEWS (at left, list of links on this page).

RECENT ESSAYS:

"Story Candy," an exploration of the strange avoidance among writers of a painfully vital character in much contemporary fiction: money. See column of links at left. All possible thanks to Bill Kenower at AUTHOR Magazine.

"The Dreaded Ask" (link at left), an uncomfortable inquest into one rarely-discussed aspect of publishing that often "brings out the worst" in writers.

"The Fate of 'The Palamino Boy'," (link at left) a meditation on the mortality of most books---and their makers---appears in the current, online issue of ZYZZYVA. Thanks and cheers to new Managing Editor Oscar Villalon!

NEW STORY: "A Bazillion Banana Republics," a nasty monologue by one of the casualties of "downsizing." See column of links at left. Big thanks Darin, at Marco Polo.

FEATURE PIECE: the link "Frank Prose" (top left of page) offers a thoughtful piece about Joan's life and work, by Press Democrat writer Diane Peterson.

FIRST-RATE REVIEW: the link "Coffee Spew Review" (top left of page) offers a lovely review of IN ENVY COUNTRY from Cambridge Review editor Bob Wake.

READING GROUPS! Please e-mail Joan at the link at lower right.
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Excerpts from terrific reviews of IN ENVY COUNTRY:

Coffee Spew Review: "Her stories combine rapturous surface detail and harrowing psychological acuity."

ForeWord Magazine: "The author's precise and artful prose is there to perform a duty; it's a steadfast craft for a cast of wildly mottled characters. . . . These nine stories, on their face about what is observed, in close-up reveal that what is left undetected, undone, and unimagined is what resonates."

Judy Budz in The Boston Globe: "[B]itingly ironic, provocative scenes of contemporary life, so complete that they will satisfy readers who typically grab 400-page novels . . . The art of these stories is in their telling . . . Frank hits precisely the right note. Often, the stories are funny . . . perceptive . . . wise."

Elizabeth Fishel in The San Francisco Chronicle: "In Envy Country: offers the pleasures of a gossipy chat with an astute and clever friend. This friend also has a dark wit, a playful way with language and imagery . . . Joan Frank is a shrewd and, yes, frank observer. . . . Her sharp portraits and original way with words make these stories surprising and rewarding."

Publishers Weekly: "The uneasy balance of power between male and female binds this sharp collection . . . Frank works every aspect of these stories with relentless energy, and readers will be sure to pay attention."

The North Bay Bohemian: "Frank's stories follow those in the throes and woes of love and life. With one eye inside the workings of her characters and one observing from afar, In Envy Country sets a Raymond Carver tone..."
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Other work out there:

"France: Cake Frosting Country," an essay about the perception of place, appears in the current, Winter 2010 issue of Antioch Review.
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