Wreckage of Reason II: Back to the Drawing Board by Nava Renek


Wreckage of Reason II: Back to the Drawing Board
Title : Wreckage of Reason II: Back to the Drawing Board
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0923389954
ISBN-10 : 9780923389956
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 270
Publication : First published February 4, 2014

In this follow up to the 2008 bestselling "Wreckage of Reason: An Anthology of Experimental Prose by Contemporary Women Writers," 29 contributors use different styles and language genres, their tools at hand, to illustrate moments of conflict, amusement, bafflement and joy that make up a day, a year, an individual life or a collective history. Held up to the light or inspected under a microscope, set in locales real, virtual, mythic, and imaginary, characters bump into and move through events, leaving readers with the humorous, sad, sexy and playful ambiguities of what it means to be alive. This anthology provides a much needed venue to spotlight women writers engaged in serious creative writing projects chronicling and responding to our current culture.

"Were this book published by St. Martin's or Norton, they would have slapped its contents on wider margins and packaged it for the college market at twice the cost. Except Norton or St. Martin's would never publish this book-it's too dangerous, wild, and singular. Wreckage of Reason gives us three dozen women authors beyond any easily marketable definition; by any description, it's an anthology worthy of an audience and acclaim."
Ted Pelton, from The Brooklyn Rail (writing about "Wreckage of Reason I")

Wreckage of Reason II: Back to the Drawing Board Reviews

  • Jessica

    First--I received a copy of this through the goodreads giveaway. Many of the stories in this book were rather short, I noticed, which makes for a lot of them.

    I thought this was a good collection of stories, interesting in that no two were alike. Like most collections, though, there were some stories I loved and others that just didn't do it for me. The experimental nature of them led to some interesting stories, again sometimes hit or miss. I tended to enjoy the more speculative fiction-type stories the most, and probably liked least those that became so random that I just could no longer follow anything about them. Overall I thought the collection was good, although not something I'd recommend to anyone who wasn't interested in this sort of thing.

  • Nick

    Melanie in print once again! Her story "Metal Eye Drifter" is pretty much the best thing in this book. Second best thing is the list of authors. Because it includes Melanie.

  • Robin Martin

    Well, of course I loved it! There is some damn good writing in here–Karen Lillis “Guide to New York City (circa 1992)” and Melanie Page “Metal Eye Drifter” among my favorites.

    “This anthology provides a much needed venue to spotlight women writers engaged in serious creative writing projects chronicling and responding to our current culture.”

    Perhaps "xxperimental," but still very accessible.

    Aimee Parkinson said, “innovative female authors constantly push boundaries of written expression, finding new ways to express diverse experiences and the diversity of their visions in an ever-transforming world.”

    Alexandra Chasin notes that as women, we’re shackled by the knowledge that we are in danger, and our mobility is inhibited by this knowledge. Chasin advises a young woman to unshackle her mind and just “write like a fucking human being.” This, in and of itself is post-structuralism, she says, “the end of the Master narrative.”

    Oh there’s more, so much more good stuff. I’m honored to be in the company of these brilliant women.

  • Melanie Page

    Follow along with the
    book blog tour for Wreckage II where you can read interviews, reviews, and all sorts of other goodness!