Book Reviews Archive
Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei
Excerpt: For those who are willing to submerge in an intricate and linguistically sumptuous story, Ge Fei’s new novel offers a rewarding world to explore.
The Age of Skin by Dubravka Ugrešić
Dubravka Ugrešić a formidable and unique cultural critic. She demands that we see deeper, even where we refuse to look.
Bring Me the Head of Quentin Tarantino by Julián Herbert
Herbert’s new collection is an ambitious, generous boon . . . his parody of Tarantino’s style and MacSweeney’s lively translation chart unmarked territory.
Invisible Ink by Patrick Modiano
What makes Modiano’s new novel such an enchanting read is its insistence on the importance of “those spaces where memory blurs into forgetting,” and its glyptic insights into the mechanisms by which forgetting offers up alternative chronologies . . .
Fugitive Atlas by Khaled Mattawa
In poems that tenderly call us to action, Mattawa awakens readers to the human and geographical devastation wrought by the tendency to “other” people. Fugitive Atlas is a collaborative prayer for a shattered earth.
A Lover’s Discourse by Xiaolu Guo
Xiaolu Guo’s new novel is a restless and mesmerizing portrait of the immigrant experience.
Little Big Bully by Heid E. Erdrich
Heid E. Erdrich’s new collection is more than a healing of past wounds. Rather, it is remarkable precisely because it posits the act of speaking as liberatory practice, a difficult action that will project us into a different and less abusive future together.
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
Robinson’s novels are like glaciers. They move slowly, but they leave behind a transformed landscape. In the vast and complex landscape of American novel-writing, Marilynne Robinson’s is a unique and indispensable terrain.
The Caretaker by Doon Arbus
Doon Arbus’s debut is an enigmatic and necessary book, especially for those conflicted about the physical detritus accumulated over the course of a life.
Conjure by Rae Armantrout
Conjure offers a magic of its own, with sly and unforgettable juxtapositions of the minute and the exceptional, elevated by the intellect, flair, and confidence of a poet at the top of her game.