Editor's Shelf

Charles Baxter recommends Question 7, by Richard Flanagan (Knopf, 2023). “A brilliant mix of memoir and both personal and social history, this book manages to say something new about the atom bomb, Leo Szilard, colonialism in Tasmania, and the author’s near-death experience, with all these strands braided together in a formal way that Sebald himself might have…

Robert Boswell recommends Big Time, by Rus Bradburd (Etruscan Press, 2024). “This novel is hilarious. A university has given up the pretense and is openly run by college sports, leaving professors to haggle over the rights to concessions at the big games—which is how they fund their departments. I laughed aloud maybe twenty times. Like…

Margot Livesey recommends Stranger from Across the Sea, by Regina McBride (Green City Books, 2024). “As soon as Violet O’Halloran arrives at St. Dymphna’s School and meets the blind girl, Indira Sharma, I was captivated by this evocative novel set in Ireland and New York. McBride’s characters are so full of longing and passion and I couldn’t wait…

Laura van den Berg recommends Planes Flying Over a Monster,by Daniel Saldaña París (Catapult, August 2024). “Daniel Saldaña París writes about cities as labyrinths; each essay in this marvelous collection leads readers to corridors where the intimate and the cosmic intersect.” DeWitt Henry recommends Joy Ride, by Ron Slate (Carnegie Melon Press, 2023). “Slate’s third collection is divided between…

David Gullette recommends Joseph “Jay” Featherstone’s third collection of poems, Rising Out of Nowhere (Fenway Press, 2023). “This collection shows an experienced poet at the top of his game. Particularly sharp is the sense of place—in his case, Gloucester’s Eastern Point—where he watches as ‘A great Atlantic roller swings / toward land, flowing, green. /…

Peter Ho Davies recommends Dixon, Descending, by Karen Outen (Dutton, February 2024). “A gripping debut novel about the aftermath of an Everest expedition, distinguished by its searching, sympathetic portrayal of middle-aged masculinity.” Tess Gallagher recommends I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State, edited by Rena Priest (Empty Bowl, 2023). “This book is mostly…