Wendy and the Lost Boys

~
Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein, a biography by Julie Salamon (Penguin Press, 2011).

A novel, a short film, and a short story

~
The Ruins of Us, a novel by Keija Parssinen (Harper Perennial, 2012).

"West of the Moon," a short film by Brent Bonacorso (2010).

"Lip Gloss," a short story by Bryan Shawn Wang, The Citron Review (Spring 2012).

The Hunger Games trilogy and two stories from BASS

~
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, novels by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively). Not that the books in this trilogy need any additional publicity, but they are remarkable.

"The Ambush," a short story by Donna Tartt, first published in Tin House (Vol. 7, No. 2, Winter 2005/2006) and reprinted in The Best American Short Stories 2006, edited by Ann Patchett and series editor Katrina Kenison (Houghton Mifflin, 2006, pp. 30-42).

"So Much for Artemis," a short story by Patrick Ryan, first published in One Story (No. 53, March 10, 2005) and reprinted in Send Me by Patrick Ryan (Dial, 2006) and in The Best American Short Stories 2006, edited by Ann Patchett and series editor Katrina Kenison (Houghton Mifflin, 2006, pp. 70-90).

The Spring 2012 issue of the Apple Valley Review (Vol. 7, No. 1)

~
The Spring 2012 issue of the journal features fiction by Iheoma Nwachukwu and Lisa Robertson; an essay by Gail Peck; prose poetry by Theresa Williams; poetry by Nabin Kumar Chhetri, Susan Johnson, Lyn Lifshin, Do-hyeon Ahn (translated from the Korean by Ian Haight and Ji-young Lee), Martha Christina, Bernard Henrie, Adam Penna, and Rich Ives; and artwork by Michelle Basic Hendry.

The Apple Valley Review is a semiannual online literary journal. The current issue, previous issues, subscription information, and complete submission guidelines are available at www.applevalleyreview.com.

A poem by Sierra DeMulder, a short story by Maile Meloy, & a handful of other pieces

~
"The Perm," a poem by Sierra DeMulder, Used Furniture Review (January 9, 2012).

"My Particular Tumor," a short story by Josh Denslow, Wigleaf (January 22, 2012).

"Agustín," a short story by Maile Meloy, Ploughshares (Spring 2008), reprinted in her collection Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It (Riverhead Books, 2009, pp. 169-189).

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship, a memoir by Ann Patchett (HarperCollins, 2004) about her relationship with Lucy Grealy, the author of the memoir Autobiography of a Face (HarperCollins, 2003).

"Wolverine Way," a short story by Ryan Ragan, 971 MENU (December 2011).

"To the Long-Distance Caller Who Keeps Hanging Up," a poem by Jeff Worley, Three Rivers Poetry Journal, reprinted in his collection The Only Time There Is (Mid-List Press, 1995, p. 70).

"So Much Happiness," a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, from Words Under the Words (The Eighth Mountain Press).

Sperm Donor X

~
This is for anyone who saw Sperm Donor on the Style Network recently. (In case you missed it, the segment of Style Exposed primarily focused on Ben Seisler, a Boston lawyer who has become the biological father of at least seventy-four children via sperm donation. It showed Ben, his fianceé, and the mother of two young children who were born using Ben's sperm grappling with a variety of questions about the role of a sperm donor.)

On a related but very different note, a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to watch Sperm Donor X, a film by Deidre Fishel about the experiences of four different women pursuing motherhood via sperm donation. The documentary footage was filmed over a period of several years, as the women very openly discussed their various reasons for the choice, went through the process of attempting to become pregnant, and reacted to the outcomes, which were different for each of them. It was a very thoughtful (and thought-provoking) piece of work. (56 minutes, New Day Films, 2010.)

Two poems from Inertia and Linebreak

~
"Paper-Thin Hotel" by Alex Stolis, Inertia Magazine, Issue 11.

"This Friday" by Susan Browne, Linebreak, November 22, 2011.