An End-of-2016 Books in Translation Reading Wishlist
Despite having read and enjoyed works in translation like Christos Ikonomou's Something Will Happen, You'll See and Burhan Sönmez's İstanbul, İstanbul, I know that the full range of works in translation this year alone is vast (580 books according to Three Percent's 2016 database).
A Perfect Failure: Mary Gordon’s “City Life”
I always get a little nervous when a fictional character broadcasts loudly and forcefully what he wants. It’s the definitiveness that makes me uncomfortable, because that clarity of desire kicks off an unhealthy obsession; in the end, disappointment seems inevitable.
People of the Book: Jewish Lessons in Reading
The postmodernists are often credited with originating the idea that all the world’s a text, a constellation of signs and symbols to be read and reread unto eternity. Really, it was the Jews. Judaism is a religion obsessed with text and textuality, with making meaning through the cultivation of
“Always on the Lookout”: An Interview with Allison Joseph
The poems in Allison Joseph’s recent chapbook Mercurial are wise and clear-eyed, charting moments of tenderness and emotion in everyday life. Her work encompass a number of different themes—from personal and family history, to self-image and style—and embody formal approaches as well as conversational yet musical free verse.
Round-Up: Trevor Noah’s Memoir, Paula Hawkins’ New Novel, and Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize Speech
From Trevor Noah’s recent memoir to a new novel from Paula Hawkins, here are this week’s biggest literary headlines: Trevor Noah, the host of The Daily Show, recently released his memoir Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. As the child of a Xhosa mother and a Swiss-German father
I, Gambler
Much like the games they glamorize, gambling narratives are fraught with risk. They risk losing the reader in the minutiae of strategy and tactics.
In Sickness: Feeling Unwell in the Wake of the U.S. Election
In the days after the U.S. presidential election last month, people became sick. Friends, colleagues, and mere acquaintances narrated their symptoms.
Clearing off the Cobwebs: Seneca Falls, New York and the first Women’s Rights Convention
I was hopeful a few weeks ago, on Halloween weekend, when I drove to Seneca Falls, New York. There, in 1848, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other reformers organized the first Women’s Rights Convention...
Postludes: An Interview with Matthew Burnside
Matthew Burnside is a writer and educator. He is currently working on a collection of science fiction stories and a series of young adult adventure novels.
Review: THE IRRESISTIBLE INTROVERT: HARNESS THE POWER OF QUIET CHARISMA IN A LOUD WORLD by Michael Chung
Throughout her book, Chung reiterates the differences between extroverts and introverts, but eschews any claims of advantageousness. One person exults in a bar with his riotous friends while another broods in a library without anyone interrupting her. They’ll use different taps to distill pleasure from our world, but at