Justin isis
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Review of The Snow / A Neve by Justin Isis
An understated, precisely detailed story taking place in Japan, involving a household crowded with people and objects. The serious tone complements the everyday subject matter. A current of existential awe seasons an otherwise light tale from a talented storyteller. A reminder that clogged toilets, old video games, a peculiar fascination…
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Review of The Aristocracy of Weak Nerves by Justin Isis
In Justin Isis’s most daring publication so far, the reader is asked to tour a philosophical zoo and peer into an abyss—not a void, but a liminal space populated by undisclosed presences and imbued with esoteric forces. The two long tales exemplify a depth of subtext and an often baffling…
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Review of Fake Ass Lawyers by Justin Isis
A unique reading experience. This book appears hand-made, printed on lush paper and bound in a Japanese style. The unusual subject matter inside might defraud some reader’s expectations. But it contains a wonderfully captivating satirical short novel detailing the frightful encounters of derelict and raucous imitation lawyers, roving between night…
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Review of Instagrimoire//Fax Screen Sect: The Cancellation of Graham Greene, Volume 1: Tales from Orthographic Oceans, or: A Room with a View (Self-Portrait in a Concave Mirror with Interior Landscape & Key to the Scriptures) by Justin Isis
“The Ghost of Hana Kimura” is one of the finest poems I have read anywhere in a long time. These are utterly unique, rereadable, poignant statements about our times. Dissectable, dense glimpses into a mind steeped in the light of liminal “inner flame.” Landscapes of the cyber-dead, and the obsolete…
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Marked to Die: A Tribute to Mark Samuelsby Justin Isis
The Weird Tale, as a genre, plays host to stories of far more diversity than most other genres. It can combine elements of horror, literary fiction, historical fiction, humor, adventure, science fiction, and fantasy. Examples abound of Lovecraftian experiments in cosmic dread and Machen-esque descents into sub-realities, but no author…
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Review of I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like by Justin Isis, Quentin S. Crisp
The struggle of young people to understand their place in the world, within society’s context, or outside of its proscribed categories, considered from a multitude of perspectives, at differing stages of fatalistic contempt, solipsism, wanderlust, and obsession. The Japanese setting, conjured with sublime authenticity, was absolutely convincing. Equal parts startling…
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Review of Dadaoism by Justin Isis and Quentin S. Crisp
One must look closely at the cover to appreciate the art. Words, portmanteau or apropos to the content, beginning with the longest word and decreasing slowly into the four-letter expletive at the bottom, cascading into one another. These key terms suggest some of the tricksterism to be encountered in the…
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Review of Pleasant Tales II by Justin Isis
Isis doesn’t disappoint. In this collection, he shows versatile and snide talent, facetious and chameleonic mastery, satiric and oneiric brilliance. He is a stark commentator on modern mores and a profound pursuant of personal stylistic innovation. A mesmeric and elegiac offering from a grossly under-appreciated storyteller. I think you will…
L. S. Popovich 