Unforgettable collection of voices
John Freeman is one of the globe’s most prolific literary critics. Before turning 40 last year, he had reviewed books for more than 200 newspapers, published three of his own titles, served as editor of the prestigious magazine Granta and led the National Book Critics Circle. But his latest project — a biannual journal of new fiction, non-fiction and poetry, arranged around a theme — might be his most remarkable achievement to date.
The American writer and editor has said in interviews that he hopes Freeman’s will provide “a new way to imagine the circumstances of our world.” This is a lofty goal, and one that its first issue, out this month, delivers on.
Freeman’s poetic opening essay tells the story of a turbulent flight he took with his mother as a teenager. And so arrival is the theme of this first, thrillingly unique collection of voices. In Haruki Murakami’s “Drive My Car,” an actor grieving the death of his wife finds a strange solace in his young driver. Aleksandar Hémon’s “In Search of Space Lost” explores his Bosnian parents’ attempts to recreate home in Canada. Jamaican-born Garnette Cadogan processes the burden of American racism roaming the streets of New York City in “Black and Blue.” These are pieces that provide unforgettable glimpses into distinct worlds.
Freeman writes in the journal that “any true reader always wants more — more life, more experiences, more risk than one’s own life can contain,” but the hard part is “where to find it in one place.” From the looks of the first issue of Freeman’s, that is no longer a problem. Tara Henley is a Toronto journalist.