Natalie Scenters-Zapico’s Treatise on Abuse
These roles that men and women play are a mutilation. So, too, are the neocolonial systems that ask people to inhabit them.
Blog
Loss and Exile in Héctor Abad’s Oblivion
Like all exile stories, for Héctor Abad to survive, he has to avenge the tragedy of loss by hanging on to the good, even when it returns him to sadness.
Tears of the Trufflepig by Fernando A. Flores
An ill-fated expedition entangles the protagonist of Fernando A. Flores’ new novel in a powerful syndicate whose tentacles of influence sprawl in all directions, and whose sinister and audacious ambitions materialize a trufflepig with the body of a pig, the hide of a crocodile, and the beak of an eagle.
The Modernism of Henry James’ Washington Square
James Lipton, theatre director and host of Bravo’s Inside the Actor’s Studio, has a pet theory about actors and entertainers he trots out on air from time to time, a theory he bases on hundreds of interviews: children of divorce often become artists—particularly of the theatrical sort. He describes the phenomenon as a need to…
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
There is pleasure to be had in reading Julia Phillips’ debut novel, even in the midst of such grief and despair. Phillips is a beautiful, assured writer, one who knows how to create fully-developed characters, a marvelous sense of place, and a constant forward momentum.
The Women of James Salter’s Dusk and Other Stories
Salter’s women remain ciphers throughout his collection, defined by their looks or their perceived demands on the men in their lives. But the women occupy powerful positions throughout the collection despite these spare characterizations because they allow the reader a chance to view the primary narrative from the outside.
Mystery, Adventure, and Coming of Age
Lore Segal’s “Dandelion” and Karen Russell’s “The Bad Graft” are two expedition stories set in vastly different worlds.
China Dream by Ma Jian
In Ma Jian’s new novel, the traumatic dream is one where “the past and the present form a tangled web from which it becomes impossible to break free.”
The Internal Landscape in James Wood’s Upstate
If a critic can write through a text, in what sense, then, does the novelist write through life?