Despite the recent pronouncement by V.S. Naipaul that  fiction is irrelevant, despite the decisions of various editors to reduce  space allocated in their magazines to fiction, this is actually an  extraordinarily lively moment in the world of storytelling.  The  inaugural issue of Verb: an audioquarterly opens with a scratchy wax  cylinder recording by Walt Whitman—reason enough to immediately purchase this  magazine—and continues with poems and stories that are always intriguing.  There’s even a song by Stuart Dybek (who sounds a bit like Randy Newman). The  centerpiece of this first issue is Robert Olen Butler reading excerpts from a  wildly funny unpublished novel in which he channels a hormonally challenged  teenage boy. Ha Jin’s contribution describes an incident through the eyes of  children that takes place in a Chinese village during the Cultural Revolution.  The issue concludes with a recording of James Dickey reading his haunting poem  The Sheep Child. This beautifully packaged two CD set provides two and  a half hours of the definitely  cool.

Karl  Pohrt
The Shaman Drum Bookstore 
Ann Arbor, MI

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Any SEBA store that has not contacted the University of Georgia Press to order copies of the audio literary magazine Verb is missing a strong weapon in the war to keep our customers away from the chains. The first issue opens and closes with the voice of Walt Whitman, and includes many all-time favorites like Tom Franklin and Robert Olen Butler. Oh, did we mention James Dickey entertains with The Sheep Child? We're planning to have in-store readings in concert with future Verb releases.
Jake Reiss
THE ALABAMA BOOKSMITH
Homewood, AL