THE MODERN WORD

For many years, Allen Ruch has been building, renovating, and adding to one of the great centers for literature on the Internet: The Modern Word.

The greatness of the site was brought home to me while talking to Allen at the World Fantasy Convention. The projects in process--a long essay on Kafka, possible short fiction reviews, expansion of the book reviews section, etc.--and an off-the-cuff comment Allen made about how, for example, Borges fans think the Borges section of the site is the entire site (when in fact there's a huge Joyce section, a huge Marquez section, etc.) really made me re-appreciate a site I might have begun to take for granted. The site really is that large, and that comprehensive.

There's also a joyful mingling of writing about great literature, regardless of where that literature comes from, the literary mainstream or "genre."

So, if you haven't visited the site, you really should give yourself the pleasure as soon as possible.

Jeff