by John Freeman (ed.).
There's more to 'new writing' than novels.
Granta's obsession with 'young [insert nationality] novelists' continues unabated.
Brazil is a fascinating country. I would like to learn more about the place. Granta 121 is a missed opportunity. From the brief author biographies included with each piece in this edition of 'the magazine of new writing', it is clear that most of them also write non-fiction. So why feel the need to restrict yet another precious edition of Granta to young novelists? To add insult to injury, many of the pieces are extracts from their forthcoming novels. Like I'm going to read one chapter of a novel! I skipped most of those.
I'm not against fiction, and a number of the short stories included in this collection are pretty good, but there is more to 'new writing' than fiction.
To add further insult to injury, I see from an advertisement included in the magazine that the theme of Granta 123 is to be Best of Young British Novelists 4.
Oh good grief!
