An Oral History of Atlantis - Ed Park

Written By Mona Angéline

An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park turned out to be a quick but indulging read, hopping from one curious short story to the next. Park writes delightful literary prose that packs subtle humor and everyday societal malheurs.

This anthology includes a variety of genres, but my favorites were two speculative pieces. Most evocative of all was perhaps the dreamy tale of eighteen Tinas living on an exclusively female island.

The underlying dystopia in this story parallels the deep-seated dread that accompanies his other pieces, and many of us will find ourselves in the subtle hopelessness of Park's modern life depiction. 

All in all a beautiful read that deviates from the fictional norm. Well done!

Published July 29, 2025.

Thank you Random House for the Advance Reader's Copy. My apologies for the delay with this review.

Mona Angéline

Mona Angéline is an unapologetically vulnerable writer, reader, book reviewer, artist, athlete, and scientist. She honors the creatively unconventional, the authentically "other". She shares her emotions because the world tends to hide theirs. She is a new writer, but her work was recently accepted in Flash Fiction Magazine, Grand Dame Literary, tiny wren lit, Down in the Dirt Magazine, The Viridian Door, The Machine, Whisky Blot Magazine, and The Academy of Mind and Heart. She loves to review books and has written them for the /tƐmz/ Review, the Ampersand Review, and the Beakful Litblog. Sooner or later she will have to condense this list… Mona is also a regular guest editor for scientific journals although she doesn't use a pen name when her engineering PhD degree is involved. She lives bicoastally in Santa Cruz, California, and in New York and savors life despite, or maybe because of, her significant struggles with chronic illness and mild disability. Learn about her musings at creativerunnings.com. Follow her on Instagram under @creativerunnings and on Twitter at @creativerunning.

https://creativerunnings.com
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