BOOKS
GALLERY OF THE DISAPPEARED MEN
With his new collection, Gallery of the Disappeared Men, Jonathan Papernick once again proves himself a consummate storyteller. From a stark displaced persons camp to the staid Boston suburbs, to the purportedly cushy camp hills of Orange County, Papernick boldly immerses us in unsettling and disturbing landscapes. Violence is everywhere and often unrelenting, perpetrated by an extensive cast of bullies. But there is magic in the horror, too. Children grow gills. A dead mother spams her son. A severed hand morphs into a man. These are brutal stories of a troubled world excavated with surgical precision in a tireless search of the reckless and ruined, ever-beating, human heart." -- Sara Lippmann, author of Doll Palace, Jerks and Lech
The stories in Jonathan Papernick's ambitious collection Gallery of the Disappeared Men, all ask a profound question: how do we begin to face our own trauma? Part mythical, part magical, always historical, and forever haunting, this book examines the violence and brutality of antisemitism, racism, and misogyny through a difficult lens; prepare to be shaken by it. I won’t forget it.”
—Carolyn Ferrell, author of Don’t Erase Me and Dear Miss Metropolitan; anthologized in Best American Short Stories 2018 and The Best American Short Stories of the Century.
I Am My Beloveds is a warm, funny, thoughtful, and often heart-wrenching portrait of a modern couple testing the boundaries of their relationship, while exploring the outer limits of their love for each other. It's an engaging and timely read, perfect for a generation of readers much more open to the allure (and pitfalls) of polyamory."
Lana Popović Harper, author of Poison Priestess, Blood Countess, and Wicked Like a Wildfire
Equal parts thriller and literary epic—a smart, haunting novel that entertains as it apprises. Papernick writes with impressive breadth, in turns crafting the minute details of a psychological profile and dissecting the vast socio-political complexities of religious zealotry pushed to its outer limits. The Book of Stone is an important read for our historical moment.
Sara Novic, author of
Girl at War
It would be enough to say that Jonathan Papernick is an utterly original writer--one who doesn't rely on gimmicks, but rather on amazingly real characters and consistently page-turning plots. But There Is No Other is even better than that: every single story here delivers a knockout punch that will leave you reeling--and revising your thinking on what life and love really mean.
Dara Horn, author of In the Image, The World to Come and All Other Nights
In these unsettling tales, the remarkable Jonathan Papernick transports us to modern-day Israel, a country torn by war, strife, and controversy. Giving voice to striking characters—Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans; Arabs, Christians, and Jews—caught in the ethnic, religious, social, and political conflicts of a dangerous region, Papernick brings the images we glimpse from afar chillingly to life. Suffused with rage, violence, humor, magic, and religion, the tragic carnage of the Middle East is rendered in unforgettable form.
LIMITED EDITIONS
XYXX is a limited-edition anthology of erotic short fiction by acclaimed short story writer, Jonathan Papernick. The five stories in this collection are shot through with lust, adultery, desire, sex and all of the struggles and complications of eros in the modern world. Author Steve Almond once wrote, “Papernick writes with tremendous passion about the downside of love, sex…” Papernick brings that passion to the page with the stories “We Were One,” “What Is It Then, Between Us?” “In Flagrante Delicto,” “The Cinq a Sept Girl,” and the deeply personal lament, “Saudade.”
The collection features artwork by Aubrey Beardsley, Egon Scheile, and Max Ernst.
XYXX
Five Stories High and Rising is a pocket-sized anthology of Jonathan Papernick’s short fiction. All five of these stories focus on the struggles and complications of youth in the modern world, whether it is the drama of interfaith attraction or the confusion and loneliness of not fitting in. Papernick’s acclaimed comic masterpiece “The King of the King of Falafel” appears again in this collection for those who have yet to read the hilarious apocalyptic tale of two feuding rival falafel stand owners.
5 STORIES HIGH AND RISING
IN THE PRESS
“
Papernick's fiction takes no prisoners...grab(s) our attention and keep us glued to the page... Sometimes, darkness falls, sometimes transcendence lifts, but... tenderness always lurks just around the edges... unforgettable.
Sanford Pinsker
Hadassah Magazine
“
There is a muscular certainty to the best of Papernick’s stories that is altogether harrowing. They offer concise, explosive portraits of brittle tempers, the furies of citizens whose sentiments have been perverted in the pressure cooker of the one of the world’s most dangerously impassioned regions. . . . Papernick’s penetrating, clear-sighted stories ring true.
Noah Richler
The New York Times Book Review
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Comparisons have aptly been made with Nathan Englander and Bernard Malamud. Papernick is nothing if not a literary iconoclast keen on exploding our ideals, ideals and conceptions about ourselves and others.
Canadian Jewish News
BIO
Jonathan Papernick, born and raised in Toronto, Canada, is the author of two short story collections, The Ascent of Eli Israel and There Is No Other and three novels, the most recent being I Am My Beloveds. He serves as Senior Writer-in-Residence in the Writing, Literature and Publishing department at Emerson College in Boston where he has taught since 2007. Jon has taught fiction writing for more than twenty years at Pratt Institute, GrubStreet, Brandeis University, Bar Ilan University and Emerson College, in Boston, where he has taught since 2007, serving as Senior Writer-in-Residence since 2012. In 2019 he started Paper&Ink Editorial, a manuscript editing and coaching service that has worked with clients in America and internationally. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his wife.
My novel I Am My Beloveds will be published in 2022 by Story PlantMy collection of short stories Gallery of the Disappeared Men will be published in 2023 by Story Plant
NEWS & EVENTS
CONTACT
For media inquiries or to invite Jonathan to speak, please email the author at jonpapernick@gmail.com.
If you are interested in working with Jonathan as a manuscript editor or writing coach please email paperandinkeditorial@gmail.com.
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