Book Reviews

Books
Arts

'Black Wings' Is A Devilish Trip Worth Taking

7:00am January 23, 2016

by Michael Schaub

Elliott Chaze's classic 1953 noir about an escaped prisoner, a secretive blonde and one last big heist has just been reissued. Critic Michael Schaub says Chaze's writing stands out from the pulp pack.

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Arts

A Nightmare Artist Adrift In 'Deep Sea'

7:08pm January 21, 2016

by Genevieve Valentine

Serge Brussolo's hallucinatory 1992 novel The Deep Sea Diver's Syndrome follows a group of lucid dreamers whose slumbers produce a strange ectoplasm that can soothe and even heal people who see it.

Books
Arts

'Medusa's Web' Tangles The Occult And Old Hollywood

7:00am January 20, 2016

by Jason Heller

Tim Powers — best known for his time-travel classic The Anubis Gates — mixes up the decades again in Medusa's Web, a tale of an eerie estate in Hollywood and a family unmoored in time.

Books
Arts

Childhood Resentments Mix With Tragedy In 'The Past'

4:30pm January 19, 2016

by Maureen Corrigan

Four adult siblings agree to spend one final summer vacation together in Tessa Hadley's new novel. Reviewer Maureen Corrigan says The Past is "as disturbing as it is diverting."

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Books
Arts

'The Portable Veblen' Goes Enjoyably Nuts

1:34pm January 19, 2016

by Heller McAlpin

Elizabeth McKenzie's novel inverts the traditional romantic comedy formula — for her odd, brainy lovers, the engagement is only the beginning of their troubles. And did we mention the squirrel?

Books
Arts

'The Crooked House' Is Haunted, In A World That Denies Ghosts

7:00am January 17, 2016

by Carmen Maria Machado

Christobel Kent's literary thriller follows a young woman who reinvents herself — even taking a new name — after the mysterious murder of most of her family. But she can't escape the past forever.

Books
Arts

'Hunters' Is A Dark, Elegant Tale Of East And West

7:00am January 16, 2016

by Nishant Dahiya

Lawrence Osborne's well-structured new novel follows a group of Western expats in Cambodia, all hunting for something nebulous — money, happiness, or even just an edge up on everyone else.

Books
Arts

Frisky, Subversive 'American Housewife' Practices Shock And Awwww

2:12pm January 14, 2016

by Heller McAlpin

The slightly demented homemakers in Helen Ellis' new collection wield sharp elbows and sharper knives, but critic Heller McAlpin says the stories build to touching, unexpected punchlines.

Books
Arts

'Your Heart Is A Muscle' Is A Florid, Ambitious Tale Of Protest

7:00am January 12, 2016

by Michael Schaub

Sunil Yapa's new novel follows a group of characters through the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. Critic Michael Schaub praises Yapa's ambition, but says his execution is amateurish.

The Last Interview series features conversations with Ernest Hemingway, Nora Ephron and Philip K. Dick.

Books
Arts

Revisiting The 'Last Interview' Of Ernest Hemingway, Philip K. Dick And Nora Ephron

1:32pm January 11, 2016

by Maureen Corrigan

A series of books published by Melville House gathers together the final interviews conducted with prominent deceased writers and thinkers. Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the latest in the series.

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