Susan Burmeister-Brown

Another great Glimmer Train - an issue that seemed to have 'loss' of some sort or other as a theme: innocence, country, a loved one, child, health, the girl.....all of these were lost in this collection in some form. Yet, they were not necessarily all gloomy and depressing as some tend to be. One of my favorite parts of Glimmer Train, is the page at the end where each contributing author is given a page to talk about anything they want, and quite often it highlights their inspiration to show more write the story we have read.....and that for a fiction geek is just cool! I particularly enjoyed "In a Library, Saltillo;" 'Roadrunner;' 'Blackout;' & 'The Corn God.' Highly recommended for any short fiction lover! show less

Another fantastic bunch of short stories here in the 4th volume of this wonderful journal of short fiction from 1992. I am 3 issues away from a complete set (106!).......my hat is off to the 2 sisters who pilot this publication, Susan Burmeister & Linda Davies. 11 short stories, 2 interviews with Writers, and a current affairs piece concerning a writer under persecution in Sri Lanka. I loved "The Yard," "Wings," & "A Whisper in the Veins." I liked "Chance of a Lifetime" & "Pressing Tight." I show more did not like "The Wallet" or "Many Janes." And being a longtime resident of Maine, this early interview with 'new' Maine novelist Carolyn Chute exposed me to much i never knew, and I have now pulled all of the books i have by her out onto the 'ready to read' pile. I've got a ton more of these to look forward to! show less

This may be my favorite Glimmer Train yet.....I absolutely loved all of them but one, and even that one was good! Favorite of all by far was 'Chance' by Peter Ho Davies......a powerful little gem made all the more intense by his choice on the ever-clever intro page to his story....each author has a childhood photo of themselves with their own caption followed by their brief biography.....Davies captured the essence of his topic like no one else....BRAVO!!!! The basic theme of this issue show more revolved around loss....quite often death...and the challenges of those left behind. Other favorites included 'A Season by the Shore,' 'Insurance,' 'Spatial Disorientation,' & ' Torture Techniques of North Americans.' I feel blessed that I stumbled upon this journal of short fiction by accident many years ago.....I am 16 away from a complete set of them....and am now a subscriber. Highly recommended!! show less

Although I was not familiar with "Glimmer Train," I picked this issue up at my local bookstore to give it a try. I was really surprised at how consistently good the stories are in this journal (or this issue, anyway). My favorites were "Angstschweiss," by Susan Messer about a grown son who goes to visit is father in a nursing home after the latter had his leg amputated. The disquieting feeling between the two men, who never were adept at physically showing love, was so well done. Also, now show more that the father is ailing, how they both accept that they need each other's help, and how they go about that, was very real and in many ways, beautiful. I also loved the story "Hole in the Sand" by Edward Hardy about couple of families vacationing on Block Island and the one Dad keeps forcing himself to enjoy the vacation, but he cannot stop the obsession with his job and his overall negative thoughts about life around him. It is suprising how this plays out when an unruly naked 5-year-old boy comes and destroys the sand castle he and his kids are building. A very interesting perspective on what work is, vacation, enjoying (or not) family time and the "Zen remote." I highly recommend this issue for anyone looking for new, different and interesting short stories (and authors) to explore. show less