and i do not forgive you by amber sparks

Interview:īarrett Bowlin: I know a lot of short story authors assemble their collections together like songs on an album. In the week before her book’s release, Sparks and I had the chance to talk on the phone about And I Do Not Forgive You, dollhouses, revenge, and, of course, zombies. Whether she’s juxtaposing mythologies against video game design or sending fairytale characters crashing into the harsh realities of the present day, each of her stories is a precise layering of flavors, plated by a chef with a hidden smile on her face. One reason for this is her distinct attention to style.

Just as with her two previous collections- May We Shed These Human Bodies (Curbside Splendor, 2012) and The Unfinished World (Liveright, 2016)-Sparks’s new collection, And I Do Not Forgive You (Liveright), is a feast of burning pleasures. Consumed, they’re as alive and as delicious as when she finished them, and every single one of them kicks. Frequently, when a collection or a novel is released, it’s lost some of that vitality, and whatever flavor or heat made in the kitchen might diminish by the time it hits the table.īut not with Amber Sparks‘s stories.

With stories, this can take weeks or months.

A challenge so many writers face is having their work remain precisely vital in that interminable period between capturing a moment in their prose-a particular mood, a fleeting feeling about the world-and the publication of that work.

And i do not forgive you by amber sparks