Fiction. Asian American Studies. In the stories in Karl Taro Greenfeld's NOWTRENDS, a reporter is sent to Chengdu, China, to interview a young, drug-addled starlet and finds that a fellow journalist with questionable political ties has been imprisoned; a struggling, Japanese artist is asked by government officials to invent a cartoon character that will prove as popular as Disney's Mickey Mouse; and a man carries 2100 milliliters of his own urine as he encounters heckling youths, Meg Whitman, and his father, who may or may not be dead. Greenfeld writes beautifully crafted stories with an authority, humor, and confidence reminiscent of Bret Easton Ellis, Phillip Roth, and Ernest Hemingway. His stories have been chosen for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 2009 and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2012.

Author City: Pacific Palisades, CA USA

Karl Taro Greenfeld is the author of two memoirs and two nonfiction books, including Speed Tribes: Days and Night's with Japan's Next Generation and Boy Alone: A Brother's Memoir, a Washington Post Best Book of 2009. His fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, The Paris Review, One Story, The Southern Review, Commentary, New York Tyrant and The Missouri Review, among other places. His nonfiction has appeared in Best American Travel Writing, Best American Sports Writing, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best Creative Nonfiction and Hustler magazine.

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Richard Thomas @ The Nervous Breakdown