Book Reviews

Books

'Other Americans' Take Center Stage In A Timely New Novel

1:25pm April 01, 2019

by Maureen Corrigan

The short chapters in Laila Lalami's novel are narrated by a rotating cast of characters. They conjure a murder mystery, a cross-cultural romance, an immigrant saga, war stories and family dramas.

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Greek To Me: Adventures Of The Comma Queen, by Mary Norris

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'Greek To Me' Highlights The Way Ardent Interests Can Enrich A Life

9:02am April 01, 2019

by Heller McAlpin

Comma Queen Mary Norris is an uncommonly engaging, witty enthusiast with a nose for delicious details and funny asides that makes you willing to follow her anywhere.

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Theoretical Physics And Down-To-Earth Loneliness In 'Lost And Wanted'

7:00am April 01, 2019

by Heller McAlpin

Nell Freudenberger's new novel is a bittersweet love story — about a lost friend, a missed romance, and an all-consuming career — that uses dense scientific concepts to illuminate everyday emotions.

Sky Without Stars, by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell

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'Sky Without Stars': Vive La Revolution ... In Space!

7:06am March 31, 2019

by Caitlyn Paxson

Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell's new novel recasts Les Miserables on a distant — yet French-inflected — planet where a powerful Regime keeps the populace split and oppressed.

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The Stories In 'Guestbook' Linger Like Ghosts

5:58pm March 30, 2019

by Lily Meyer

Leanne Shapton's new short story collection feels like walking through an art gallery, each piece linked in ways that are ineffable but clear. And many sections use artwork, including Shapton's own.

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We Are All 'The Other Americans'

7:00am March 30, 2019

by Bethanne Patrick

Laila Lalami's new novel combines riveting police procedural with a sensitive examination of life in California's Mojave Desert region, told through a well-rendered choir of different voices.

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In 'She Could Fly,' A Teen Wrestles With A Host Of Psychological Mysteries

7:00am March 29, 2019

by Etelka Lehoczky

Christopher Cantwell's new graphic novel follows teenaged Luna, who's struggling with mental health issues and finds a kind of hope in the appearance of a mysterious flying woman in the Chicago skies.

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'Now, Now, Louison' Attempts To Bring Art, And Its Artist, To Life

10:48am March 28, 2019

by Martha Anne Toll

Writer and gallery owner Jean Frémon inhabits artist Louise Bourgeois as if she herself were writing this novel-cum-memoir, opening up our understanding of both the artist and her art.

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Could A Novel Lead Someone To Kill? 'Murder By The Book' Explores The Notion

1:22pm March 27, 2019

by Annalisa Quinn

Author Claire Harman writes that one reason François Benjamin Courvoisier gave for why he murdered his boss Lord William Russell in 1840 was that he wanted to model himself on a book character.

Who Killed My Father, by Edouard Louis and translated by Lorin Stein

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In 'Who Killed My Father,' A Son Renders His Father Seen And Heard

7:01am March 27, 2019

by Martha Anne Toll

There is a universality to Édouard Louis' story — the child's longing for acceptance contrasted with the mature son's painful journey to understand why his father behaved as he did.