A quick-witted how to manual for anyone who wants to understand autofiction Literary Nonfiction. A brave new mode of literature has been emerging in the work of Sheila Heti, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and others. Call it what you will; Adam Colman calls it essayistic fiction. In this sharp, playful book, Colman dives deep into Ben Lerner’s 10:04 to create a how to manual for anyone who wants to write, or simply understand, essayistic fiction. A manifesto, a critical analysis, and a winking work of satire, NEW USES FOR FAILURE marks the arrival of a sparkling new genre. This is part of Fiction Advocate’s Afterwords series.

Adam Colman writes about writing with a unique take on literature and in a fresh voice. His criticism is lively, witty, and has an engaging style more usually seen in a novel. Colman is a thoughtful narrator of his ideas, and a playful reader: he approaches Ben Lerner’s writing on its terms, and on his own. NEW USES FOR FAILURE is calling for a different kind of criticism, in which its writer is self-conscious and knows himself/herself to be unreliable, also. Bravo!–Lynne Tillman