Bull – Men’s Fiction 1 & 2: 2013 Book #9 & 10

Allow me to go crazy here and combine two reviews into one post – namely because they belong to the same literary journal: Bull {Men’s Fiction}. What is men’s fiction? It’s not fiction by men. It’s fiction about men. After reading the two issues I received from the fine gentlemen next to our table at AWP, I can say two major themes run through everything I’ve read – fatherhood and male inadequacy. Most stories contain elements of both, but on the whole a lot of the stories deal with men’s role in changing environments.

Issue 1

4 out of 5 stars

Of the two, this issue was definitely my favorite. Consequently, it also contains the journal’s only female authors. It also contains two stories that play with format and structure, including The Heart is a Strong Instrument by Jon Morgan Davies, in which online avatars and chat is employed to tell a story of a man trying to find love in a (virtual?) environment.

Perhaps my favorite story was Separation, by Tom Bonfiglio. Contains, probably, the best sex scene I’ve read in a lit journal, and its only a paragraph long. The evolving relationship between Jon and Jill is multifaceted and inevitable, and the slippery slope of Jon taking a stand for his beliefs contrasted with his conflict of ending up friends with a convicted sex offender was top notch.

My one disappointment was the interview. Chuck Klosterman is a giant of a Midwestern writer – and major kudos to these guys for landing him. But it felt like any other writer interview, like something you might read in a GQ or Rolling Stone. Bull has an amazing aesthetic going, and I would have rather seen the interview take that tone – exploring masculinity issues with Klosterman rather than talking exclusively craft. Maybe it’s just me.

Issue 2

3 out of 5 stars

Issue 2 contained a couple prior Midwestern Gothic contributors, including a novella by Adam Schuitema. I still liked it, and it was still a strong issue, but it lacked the standout stories (for me anyway) of issue 1.

One exception was Here Be Dragons by Chris Tarry. It tells the story of two men in medieval times, their adventures in fooling entire villages into thinking they are dragon slayers and then moving into the struggles of stay-at-home dadhood. Sounds comedic and filled with delicious satire – which is is. But it also touches on dark aspects of fatherhood, and how two men deal with their new found inadequacy and role in completely different (yet inevitably similar) ways.

Aside from that story – the fiction was strong, and enjoyable to read, but nothing that made me stand up and take notice. Again here, the interview with Donald Ray Pollock was solid, but I’d rather they explore issues of masculinity as it relates to fiction rather than focusing exclusively on craft and biography.

I think they did a commendable job of gathering a variety of different perspectives on “improvement,” the theme tying this issue together. Some men fail, some men succeed, and some stay exactly the same – which is how it should be. From an editorial perspective, I felt like they winnowed around the foundation of what a man has to do to improve himself, which I do believe is a driving force that defines many men. Yes, women strive to improve and better themselves, but for men it is expected. You build, you learn, you craft, you learn from your mistakes, you push forward with ambition. The improvement issue explores what happens when men live up to that expectation, and when they walk away from it.