Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
Bynum, a finalist for the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prize in fiction, will appear April 19 on “This Moment in Fiction”
with Patricia Lockwood and Lauren Oyler, with The Times’ writer Amy Kaufman moderating.
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Exceptional, unique works of fiction can work as primers for themselves. “The Erlking,” the first story in “Likes” by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, has all of the elements that appear in the rest of the book. Set at a fair at a children’s school, it’s part fairy tale thanks to a point of view that pivots from mother to daughter, who sees things through the glossy unreality of a little girl. There are also questions about representation and a setting that is definitely Los Angeles. A distant figure who seems to be a threatening boogeyman turns out to be John C. Reilly the Oscar-nominated actor is reco
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