News
July, 2025
Unnameable Books
A New York reading! At Unnameable Books, 615 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, Tuesday, July 29, at 7 pm. I’ll be reading with Binnie Kirshenbaum, whose new novel, Counting Backwards , is called “gutsy, funny, heart-wrenching” by the New York Times.
May, 2025
Q an A with Dick Polman
Link: "I'm most interested in how my characters live in the historical moment."
Dick Polman Substack
A conversation with political journalist Dick Polman about sexual harassment, social media and A Hole in the Story.
April, 2025
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly calls A Hole in the Story "resonant" and "sobering," adding that "the insights are subtle, as Kalfus writes with economical prose and avoids polemics."
Independent Book Store Main Point
Saturday, April 26, is Independent Bookstore Day! I'll be visiting wonderfully inviting, intelligently curated Main Point Books in Wayne, PA, where I'll chat with readers and sign copies of my books, from 1 to 2 PM.
Electric Literature Interview
Link: Starred Review
A Q. and A. with the political columnist Dick Polman.
Lit Hub Interview
Link: Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers
Air Mail A Hole in the Story Review
Link: Recommended
It seems impossible—and also a little foolhardy—to write a novel set in the #MeToo movement as it reached its fulminating peak in 2017 with the toppling of Harvey Weinstein. There are so many trip wires blocking the way. Ken Kalfus has written a novel that proves it can be done: A Hole in the Story is nuanced, sure-footed, dryly funny, and unpredictable. If there were such a thing as a social-mores thriller, this would be it. The setting is a wonky Washington magazine (think The New Republic) where the revered editor is confronted by a sexual predation he made in 1999, back when Bill Clinton was struggling to avoid impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Trump, in his second term, has reduced “cancel culture” to an insult aimed at woke-loving Democrats. A Hole in the Story restores its meaning in a complex human drama that is disturbing and totally addictive.($26, milkweed.org) —Alessandra Stanley
Air Mail A Hole in the Story
"If there were such a thing as a social-mores thriller, this would be it." Air Mail reviews A Hole in the Story.
March, 2025
Pen & Pencil A Hole in the Story
My second Philadelphia reading for A Hole in the Story is at the hallowed reporters' bar, The Pen and Pencil Club, 1522 Latimer St., Thursday, April 24. Doors open at 7. Reading begins around 7:30, or whenever people feel optimally beveraged.