CANR
WORK TITLE: Kayfabe
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.chriskoslowski.com/
CITY: Columbia
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Male.
EDUCATION:University of Michigan, B.A.; University of Cincinnati, M.A.; University of South Carolina, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Yemassee, Columbia, SC, editor.
WRITINGS
Contributor of short stories to publications, including Blue Mesa Review, Front Porch Journal, and Day One.
SIDELIGHTS
Chris Koslowski is a writer based in Columbia, SC. He hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and master’s degrees from the University of Cincinnati and the University of South Carolina. Koslowski has written short stories that have appeared in publications, including Blue Mesa Review, Front Porch Journal, and Day One.
In 2024, Koslowski released his first book, a novel called Kayfabe. It stars Domingo and Pilar Contreras, a brother and sister who travel to Domingo’s wrestling showcases along the East Coast. At 26, Dom is considered to be a middle-aged wrestler, while Pilar, at 17, longs to finally begin to participate in the showcases herself. As he sees his own career winding down, Dom hopes to bring Pilar into professional wrestling, attempting to set up an audition with an organization called Mid-Coast Championship Wrestling. However, after Dom breaks another competitor’s arm, he becomes unwelcome on his usual circuit. He decides to perform at the Pit, a violent underground wrestling venue. He takes on the role of the villain, Cutman. The book’s title is the term used to explain the illusion of reality in wrestling.
A Kirkus Reviews critic offered a favorable assessment of Kayfabe, remarking: “This is a love letter to showmanship with enough high stakes, insider trivia, and personal struggle to make it enormously readable.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly described the novel as a “brisk and punchy debut.” The same contributor asserted: “It’s a winner.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2024, review of Kayfabe.
Publishers Weekly, June 24, 2024, review of Kayfabe, p. 37.
ONLINE
Chris Koslowski website, https://www.chriskoslowski.com/ (August 8, 2024).
Chris Koslowski's novel, Kayfabe, is forthcoming from McSweeney’s. His short fiction has appeared in Blue Mesa Review, Front Porch Journal, and Day One. Chris has a BA in English from the University of Michigan, an MA in English from the University of Cincinnati, and an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of South Carolina, where he served as editor of the literary journal Yemassee.
Chris grew up in metro Detroit. He lives in Columbia, South Carolina.
Chris is represented by Justin Brouckaert at Aevitas.
QUOTED: "brisk and punchy debut."
"It's a winner."
Kayfabe
Chris Koslowski. McSweeney's, $28 (408)
ISBN 978-1-9521-1985-9
In Koslowski's brisk and punchy debut, a brother and sister tour the fringes of the East Coast wrestling circuit. Twenty-something Domingo Contreras, "well into middle age" in "wrestling years," travels from show to show with his 17-year-old sister, Pilar, in a Honda Civic barely large enough for his hulking body. When he accidentally breaks an opponent's arm, he worries his career may be over. He's pinned all his hopes on getting Pilar, a talented athlete in her own right, an audition with Mid-Coast Championship Wrestling promotion, but the owner demurs. As a result, Dom takes a new role as the Cutman, a villain in an underground venue called the Pit, where serious injuries are common. With Dom toiling at the Pit, he and Pilar are driven apart by their differing philosophies about "kayfabe" (the pretense of reality in wrestling's scripted violence), as Dom embraces real violence while Pilar prefers to view the sport as an art form. Koslowski maintains momentum with action-filled and well-observed descriptions of the matches. It's a winner. Agent: Justin Brouckaert, Aevitas Creative Management. (Aug.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Kayfabe." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 25, 24 June 2024, p. 37. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A800404808/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=89b8b758. Accessed 11 July 2024.
QUOTED: "This is a love letter to showmanship with enough high stakes, insider trivia, and personal struggle to make it enormously readable."
Koslowski, Chris KAYFABE McSweeney's (Fiction None) $18.00 8, 27 ISBN: 9781952119859
An aging wrestler guides his young sister through the ups and downs of the dangerous sport.
"Man is meat." So begins the saga of 26-year-old over-the-hill wrestler Domingo Contreras and his sister, Pilar, soon to be 18 and already eager to don the spandex and lace-ups. Koslowski gives equal attention to the bonds of their relationship and the culture of the industry. Pilar is ready to prove herself and commits her body and soul to the profession, enduring unspeakable punishment in so doing. "There was pain, and she didn't care. She transformed it into adrenaline, focus, the drive to take on more." Speaking to the novel's esoteric title--"kayfabe [was] the closely guarded secret that wrestling was theater"--Koslowski's story is not bashful about depicting the staged theatrics of professional wrestling. While it's largely performance-based and dedicated to maintaining an illusion, it's still a sport requiring great skill and athleticism, and a risky one at that: "A boxing ring could kill a wrestler, and the give of a wrestling canvas could snap untrained ligaments." The pathos is aplenty, but never maudlin, as Dom reckons with his own physical deterioration while mentoring his young sister to take his place. "As if his oil tank had burned dry, Dom's muscles seized, and he ground to a halt." Though the novel could have been much shorter, there is a visceral, evocative energy to the descriptions that help it along: "The contortion was as elegant as ballet, as repugnant as torture porn." Koslowski does a capable job of developing a convincing milieu and puts his characters through their paces with pitiless yet compassionate precision. This is a love letter to showmanship with enough high stakes, insider trivia, and personal struggle to make it enormously readable.
An unexpectedly tender ode to passing one's prime while also finding new joys in fostering next-generation talent.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Koslowski, Chris: KAYFABE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A797463296/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6ed822ab. Accessed 11 July 2024.