Famed writer, editor, filmmaker, and publisher Charles Henri Ford speaks of his early years in Paris, his theory of collage, and how he came to obtain a nude photograph of Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith.
What starts as an innocent encounter between expats and an invitation to a Berber wedding ends in drugs, a police bust, and rape, titled “Marrakesh,” by Catherine Texier. This article is only available in print.
After the death of their mother, the surviving children gather in her home around a letter, titled “Whom No Hate Stirs None Dances,” by Bradford Morrow. This article is only available in print.
A short story, titled “Living (1983–85),” by Lyn Hejinian. This article is only available in print.
“A History of the World,” in three parts: “I. Fata Morgana,” “II. Crazy Masters,” and “III. Exquisite Corpse.” This article is only available in print.
A fantasy of affection trailed in the short story “Idée Fixe,” from the novel Burma, by Gary Indiana. This article is only available in print.
British novelist and short story writer Angela Carter talks to Rosemary Carroll about The Company of Wolves, Neil Jordan’s film adaptation of her short story.
Alison Armstrong contemplates human nature in “Ostranenia.”
An excerpt from the novel Haunted Houses by Lynne Tillman. This article is only available in print.
Self-reflection through his name, “Naming Names,” by Klaus Kertess. This article is only available in print.
Reflections on age and escaping it, “New Jersey Days, Nautical Nights,” by Joan M. Harvey. This article is only available in print.
Waterland, first published In England in 1983, established Graham Swift as one of the more original, elegant, and imaginatively fertile of the younger English writers. Patrick McGrath talks to him about his work in a cold house off the Fulham Road.
After a draught, ranchers confront loyalty through the flames of a barn, “Above the Chautauquas” by Bradford Morrow. This article is only available in print.
Corruption and desire abound in Polermo, 1860, “Memory (One Kind of Time)” by Kathy Acker. This article is only available in print.
A love story lasts and ends in disaster hundreds of years after the lovers’ death, “Autumn Melancholy” by Janet Hamill. This article is only available in print.
Some friends take a disastrous trip to the racetrack, “Loudon Raceway” by Tama Janowitz.
Two roommates attracted to each other, “Rooms” by Jane Warrick. This article is only available in print.
The narrator ponders his own story about a hippie friend, “Epilogue” by Dennis Cooper. This article is only available in print.
A television writer suffers a nervous breakdown and ponders the South and a new acquaintance, “A Handful of Anomalies” by Coleman Dowell. Excerpted from A Dark Book. This article is only available in print.
Short story, “The Dictator’s Witchdoctor” by Alejandro Bravo. This article is only available in print.
“Advice From A Jackass” and “Sometimes Right is Paid for with Wrong” from “The Bird Who Cleans the World and Other Mayan Fables” by Guatemalan writer Víctor Montejo. Translated by Wallace Kaufman. This article is only available in print.
A short story of bucolic moments capturing family life and love in the countryside. This story originally appeared in BOMB #11, but reprinted and amended here in #12.
A woman cuts herself to deal with the loss of her child, “The Lilac with Mastering Odor” by Jeanne Larson. This article is only available in print.
A tortured love letter, translated from Spanish by Gregory Kolovakos, excerpted from Jacinta Escudos’s novel Notes for a Love Story that Never Was. This article is only available in print.
An act of arson is analyzed by a tarot card reader, “Smoke Defines Light: A Fiction with Tarot Reading by Jane Nelson” by Craig Gholson. This article is only available in print.
A woman protects her baby during a bombing, “1954” by Arturo Arias. Excerpted from After The Bombs, translated from Spanish by Zoë Anglesey.
Sleeping is difficult for a family, “Il 4 luglio, 1924” by Marguerite Feitlowitz. Excerpted from Rosalie. Read the ammended version in BOMB 12.
Scenes from a semi-forgotten dreamworld. A short story, titled “Out of the Past,” by Luc Sante.
Peter and his pen drift into a stream of consciousness. A short story, titled “Peter and the Pen,” by Klaus Kertess. This article is only available in print.
A short story, titled “The Land of Juan Rulfo,” by Joan Harvey. This article is only available in print.