Jim Shepard is not kidding around. His writing is so good it’s borderline gaudy, but you know the process of creating it was rigorous and unpleasant. The title of his new fiction collection, You Think ...

A few weeks ago I reviewed You Think That’s Bad, a new short story collection by Jim Shepard. In that review I described his stories as “immersive, visceral mini-movies” and said Shepard’s writing was ...