Brian Biswas
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Brian Biswas
@brianbiswas.bsky.social
570 followers 490 following 250 posts
Fiction writer. Author of the novel The Astronomer, and the short story collections Blister and Other Stories and A Betrayal and Other Stories.

Website: http://brianbiswas.com/
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brianbiswas.bsky.social
12 short stories that paint a portrait of modern India that shimmers with psychological complexity, spirit, and wisdom. Jeyamohan is considered one of India’s finest authors writing today. This is his first work to be published in English.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity
The cover of the short story collection stories of the true by Jeyamohan. A colorful portrait of an Indian man squatting, his hands upraised. He appears to be a storyteller.
November 11, 2025 at 11:51 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Synchronized sleepers (they’re siblings).

#catsofbluesky #cats #pets #catpics #catlover
Two black and white cats sleeping on a couch. Their left front paws are extended. They look like mirror images of one another. (In point of fact, they’re brother and sister.)
October 30, 2025 at 10:57 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
If you like suspense and noir movies from the 40s and 50s, give this one a try. A young woman is auditioning with Hitchcock for his new movie. Lots of info about the seamy side of Hollywood during the days leading up to World War II (blacklisting).

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity
Cover of the novel typewriter beach, by Meg Waite Clayton. A young woman is looking through an archway out at a rocky coastline.
October 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
If you’re looking to get into Gene Wolfe, may I suggest starting with this. A brilliant collection of short stories (a couple are novella length) each picked out by Wolfe himself. Start with the first and read them all. His range is amazing. 5 stars.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity
The cover of the book the Best of Gene Wolfe. A collection of short stories selected by Wolfe himself. Ursula K. Le Guin provides the quote, “Wolfe is our Melville.”
September 25, 2025 at 10:17 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Originally published in Italy in 1960. A prescient parable of artificial intelligence. Can a human soul be re-created?

The Tartar Steppe is Buzzati’s‘s masterpiece, but this is quite good. Sixty years ahead of its time.

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Cover of the novel The Singularity by Dino Buzzati. A pen and ink illustration of a monstrous man with two silhouetted figures looking on from a safe distance.
September 5, 2025 at 10:26 AM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
My short story The Expansion of Space (part one) was broadcast today on the Antipodian Speculative Fiction radio program. Part two will be next week.

This is excerpted from a novel in progress, Initial Conditions.

2nvr.org.au/playlist/boh...

#books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting
A young woman is staring up a starry sky and at what looks like the Andromeda galaxy.
August 31, 2025 at 1:17 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
While vacationing in a hunting lodge in the Austrian mountains, a middle-aged woman awakens one morning to find herself separated from the rest of the world by an invisible wall.

An allegory for our times.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity
The cover of the novel The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. A black and white cow grazing on a plain, a white and blue background (I think the white portion represents the wall), a solitary cloud in the sky.
August 23, 2025 at 4:48 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
If you find yourself in Durham, North Carolina … *signed* copies of my novel The Astronomer are available at the New Hope Commons Barnes and Noble.

Shortlisted for Publishers Weekly BookLife Priza (General Fiction, 2024).

#books #booksky #fiction #writingcommunity
My novel , The Astronomer, on the fiction shelf at Barnes & Noble. There is a gold signed-copy sticker on the top righthand corner of the cover.
August 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
First two novels by the Nigerian fantasy writer Amos Tutvola (published in 1952 and 1954). Both are considered tops in that genre. I must say, I’ve never read anything like them. It’s as if Tutuola invented his own syntax. And it grows on you.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity
Abstract African artwork adorns the covers of Amos Tutvola’s novels The Palm-Wine Drinkard and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.
August 20, 2025 at 10:24 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Interlocked puzzle pieces.

I’m not sure why, but I just love this picture. I suppose because it’s so relaxing to look at. (Don’t be deceived, though; much of the day they’re chasing each other around the house—and not always in fun.)

#catsofbluesky #cats #pets #catpics #catlover
Two adorable black-and-white cats—siblings—sleeping on a bed. They’re interlocked like two puzzle pieces. Delilah, the little one, has her back nestled against the chest of her big brother whose front and back legs are nestled around her as if to protect her.
August 12, 2025 at 7:47 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Szabo paints the most fascinating and unforgettable characters. I’ve read most of her books and this one is probably my favorite. An unsettling exploration of the relationship between two very different women: a well-educated, married writer and her housekeeper.

#books #booksky #writingcommunity
Cover of the novel the door by Magda Szabo. A light gray background with three straight lines forming a corner. That’s it.
August 8, 2025 at 4:27 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
The cats just caught this in our house. It was alive, but petrified. I put it outside and after a minute or two it scampered away. What is it?

#amphibians #cats #pets #lizards
Dark green lizard against a blue background. 4 inches long, four fingers, 1 inch long tail. Eyes open.
August 7, 2025 at 12:16 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
A husband cares for his dying wife. It takes place at a point shortly before her death and focuses on her past and his future.

Anyone interested in experimental books should read this.

Long out of print but recently brought back by the good folks at NYRB.

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Cover of the novel, the limit by Rosalind Belben. A pen-and-ink drawing of an elderly woman lying on a bed. Her eyes are vacant, her hand resting on the pillowcase. Ominous shadows surround her.
August 6, 2025 at 10:56 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
On the Marble Cliffs by Ernst Junger. An allegory about the rise of fascism. Should be required reading for these times. Five stars.

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Cover of the novel on the marble cliffs by Ernest junger. A statue on the left, a lake in the background, mountains beyond.
August 3, 2025 at 1:22 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Two baby deer nursing in our front yard while our black-and-white cat watches fascinated from the dining room window. It’s noon and the sun is shining brightly.

Just an ordinary lunchtime in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

#wildlife #deer #catsofbluesky #cats
August 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
The account of a journey to a mysterious—and possibly mythical—place dubbed “The Ice Mine.” The writing reminds me of Alvaro Mutis (Maqroll), a South American magical realist. One of those books you immediately want to read again (which I did—twice).

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Cover of the album, the iceman by Stephen Adkins. A cratered planet with an outpost appearing near the north pole and a flag next to the outpost. Yellow background.
July 31, 2025 at 12:44 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
A teenage girl murders her newborn child. Style is comparable to early Cormac McCarthy or Ron Rash. The writing is intoxicating, ebbs and flows like the river that is at its core. My third-time through. Very moving.

Runner-Up for the Paris Literary Prize.

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The cover of the book Newborn by Augustin Maes. Wildflowers growing along a riverbank are in the foreground, hazy white background.
July 30, 2025 at 6:42 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Contains Gobble-Up Stories (a collection of fables) and the novellas The History of Sigismund, Prince of Poland, and Chi Po and the Sorcerer.

If you like fabulist tales, give these a try. I really enjoyed them.

#books #booksky #writingcommunity
The cover of the short story collection otherwise fables by Oscar Mandel. A picture of a crown against a lightly yellow background.
July 28, 2025 at 10:21 AM
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Hari Krishna Kaul was a Kashmiri writer. He wrote four collections of short stories and one novel between 1972 and 2000. At one point he was booted out of Kasmir for being too political (you wouldn’t know it from reading these stories). Borges-like writing style.

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Cover of the short story collection For now, it is night by Hari Krishna Kaul. An impressionistic painting of a canal with boats floating down.
July 27, 2025 at 12:54 PM
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Published in Argentina in 1958. A 16-year-old girl living on a farm in Argentina is raped by a farmhand. Abortions are frowned upon and she is too ashamed to confide in anyone. Was considered scandalous for its time.

How little we’ve progressed in 60+ years.

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Cover of the novel January by Sara Gallardo. A pen-and-ink drawing of a white horse galloping across a desolate plain. There are two ominous looking trees in the foreground, mountains in the distance.
July 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
How many cats can fit in a cat tree perch (before a fight erupts)?

Note: a fight did not take place this time, but has in the past.

#pets #cats
Black and white kitties, snuggling in a light-blue cat tree perch.
July 22, 2025 at 11:56 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac. I don’t often read mysteries but when I saw the title of this one I snapped it up. And the first two sentences of Chapter One sealed the deal.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity
The cover of the novel death of an author by ECR Lorac. An idyllic country scene, a creek flowing to the horizon, wildflowers and trees in the foreground, trees near the horizon, a lush meadow in between.
July 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Piranesi by Susana Clarke.
I’m not sure where this is going and I’m not sure I want to know (okay, I want to know). It’s unsettling. And rather disturbing. Like a dream that almost makes sense.

Writing style reminds me of Gene Wolfe.

#books #booksky #writingcommunity #amreading
Cover of the novel Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. A flute-playing satyr perched atop a Roman column. The Night Sky punctuated with stars in the background.
July 21, 2025 at 10:38 PM
brianbiswas.bsky.social
Published in 1955, this novel about global catastrophe is also a scathing critique of religious fundamentalism. The dystopian community, known as Waknuk, reminded me of the Puritans in The Scarlet Letter. Thought provoking and very well-written.

#books #booksky #writingcommunity #amreading
Cover of the crystal lids by John Wyndham, a kaleidoscope of colors swirl across the page, green, blue, yellow, red, and purple.
July 20, 2025 at 11:23 AM
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Shadows in the Sun by Chad Oliver. Written in 1954.

Anthropologist Paul Ellery discovers that the small Texas town of Jefferson Springs is actually an imitation of small-town America created by aliens who offer him a chance to explore the universe.

Love it!

#books #booksky #writingcommunity
Cover of the novel Shadows in the Sun by Chad Oliver. A flying saucer hovers over a gas station in a small rural town.
July 19, 2025 at 1:12 PM