Jim Shepard

i haven't read anything of shepard's save for a short story in an anthology (which i liked). i've been meaning to pick up "project x", his latest, which is about two boys plotting a columbine-style school shooting. i'd be interested to hear opinions from anyone who's read that one (or any, really).

i was fortunate enough to take a workshop that he led a couple of summers ago - he's a very witty guy.

I've read 'Project X' and loved it. It made we want to through the book across the room. At first, his sort of spare writing style deceives you into wondering why you should care about this book. But its just the way teenagers talk. The main character Edwin is this unlovable downtrodden kid, but you end up caring about him. His best and only friend starts talking about revenge. They get beaten up a lot and even the teachers seem to treat Edwin badly. I found it hard to read his conversations with his parents, who can sense something is wrong, but don't know how to address it. You just want to scream at them or something, but they don't seem like bad parents at all. You wonder the entire book what will happen. Is the revenge stuff just the talk of teenagers? Anyway, I thought it was amazing. And I went and got a copy of 'Love and Hydrogen', but have only read the first story so far.

I've read Half of Love and Hydrogen and also love it. I've never read anything and most of his other stuff is out of print which sucks but I hear Nosferatu is really good. This guy's a real talent.