June 16, 2017
On Against Sunset by Stanley Plumly
New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016. 112 pages. $24.65. There are certain moments in his life to which, like hummingbirds returning year after year to the same location, […]
June 16, 2017
On Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga
Translated by Jordan Stump. Brooklyn, NY: Archipelago Books. 2016. 165 pages. $16.00. As many authors do, Scholastique Mukasonga opens her memoir, Cockroaches, with a dedication, but hers has a much […]
June 9, 2017
On Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada
Translated by Susan Bernofsky. New York, NY: New Directions Press, 2016. 288 pages. $16.95. Everyone feels constrained at times—by a dead-end job, by family members who expect certain behavior—but imagine […]
June 9, 2017
The Unbroken Line: Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. 320 pages. $26.95. Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing opens in the eighteenth century in what is modern-day Ghana, where a character named Effia is sold […]
June 2, 2017
On the black maria by Aracelis Girmay
Rochester, NY: BOA Editions, Ltd., 2016. 120 pages. $16.00. In 1973, on the rooftop of the Skyview apartments in the Bronx, a black boy looked at the stars. This is […]
June 2, 2017
On Bright Magic by Alfred Doblin
New York, NY: The New York Review of Books, 2016. 210 pages. $15.95. The surrealistic and disturbing stories of Alfred Doblin’s Bright Magic range from tales describing parallel universes and […]
May 26, 2017
Schematic: Renee Gladman’s Calamities
Seattle, WA: Wave Books, 2016. 126 pages. $18.00. “I began the day . . . ” opens each new line of thought in Renee Gladman’s latest book, Calamities. This repeated […]
May 26, 2017
Tragedy in Piraeus: Christos Ikonomou’s Something Will Happen, You’ll See
Translated by Karen Emmerich. Brooklyn, NY: Archipelago Books, 2016. 272 pages. $18.00. On January 1, 1981, Greece formally became a member of the European Community, the precursor to the EU. […]
May 19, 2017
A Doddle Through the Furze: Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane
New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2016. 434 pages. $18.00. It has been nearly 2,500 years since Plato pondered the origins of language in his Socratic dialogue Cratylus. Are words invented […]
May 19, 2017
“Alive with Secret Words”: Mexico in My Heart by Willis Barnstone
Manchester, England: Carcanet Press, 2015. 400 pages. $23.99. In his most recent book, Mexico in My Heart, Willis Barnstone joins the tradition of wandering poets established by Tristan Tzara, H.D. […]
May 12, 2017
On Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press. 2016. 128 pages. $14.00. The Kübler-Ross Model outlines five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. By claiming the universality of the experience, the […]
May 12, 2017
Every Memory is Really a Scar: The Nix by Nathan Hill
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. 640 pages. $27.95. Publishers have long marketed new books by comparing their writers to more established writers—these comparisons can leave readers both intrigued […]