Ever read a book and loved it, then read the same book later (in a different edition, from a different publisher, etc.) and thought, hm, well, maybe not?
I read the Future Tense Books chapbook PLEASE DON’T KILL THE FRESHMAN by Zoe Trope and was blown away. I loved its style, its pressure, its pinning-down of ordinary angst ridden existence.
But just recently, I made it around to reading the expanded Harper Tempest version of PLEASE DON’T KILL THE FRESHMAN by Zoe Trope and I couldn’t even make it through. It felt bled out, stagnant in its pushy style, too static for its own good.
Years have passed and the editions were different, but what the hell?
This ever happen to you?
John Madera is the author of Nervosities (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024) and Nomad Science (Spuyten Duyvil Press, forthcoming in 2026). His fiction is also published in Conjunctions, Salt Hill,Hobart, The &Now Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing, and many other journals. His poetry is also published in elimae, Sixth Finch, Contrapuntos, and elsewhere. His criticism is published in American Book Review, Bookforum, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Rain Taxi: Review of Books, The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, and many other venues. Recipient of an M.F.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University, two-time New York State Council on the Arts awardee John Madera lives in New York City, where he runs Rhizomatic and manages and edits Big Other.
