Here Comes a Book Rant
July 16, 2019
A review/rant about Bianca Marais’ novel If You Want to Make God Laugh, an unintentionally offensive story about three women in post-apartheid South Africa. … More Here Comes a Book Rant
Tag: Fiction
My Deep Dive into Dancer from the Dance
July 12, 2019
I’ve been sitting on this review for a while now because I keep turning it over and over in my head, and to be brutally honest, I’m trying to decide how much I actually like this book. Published in 1978, Dancer From the Dance is a perfect encapsulation of the gay subculture that thrived in … More My Deep Dive into Dancer from the Dance
A Handbook for Helping the Dying: The Gifts of the Body, by Rebecca Brown
February 19, 2019
A humane, sharply observed set of interlocked stories about a home care worker taking care of AIDS patients in the 1990s. … More A Handbook for Helping the Dying: The Gifts of the Body, by Rebecca Brown
When You Just Can’t Get Behind a Book Everyone Else Loves: Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan
January 29, 2019
Reviews of Esi Edugyan’s Man Booker finalists Half-Blood Blues and Washington Black–one of which I love and one which I struggled to get through. … More When You Just Can’t Get Behind a Book Everyone Else Loves: Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan
The End is Nigh in Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
January 6, 2019
The end of the world as we know it is the focus of Emily St. John Mandel’s surprisingly humane Station Eleven. … More The End is Nigh in Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Is The Bonfire of the Vanities a Garbage Novel?
September 1, 2018
For many years The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe’s satirical novel about race and money in New York City, has been called the definitive novel of the 1980s. It was a smash hit upon publication in 1987 and earned Wolfe, already known for his nonfiction books The Right Stuff and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, raves. But … More Is The Bonfire of the Vanities a Garbage Novel?
The Book I Gave up on Twice: The Female Persuasion, by Meg Wolitzer
August 3, 2018
I am a total fanboy of Meg Wolitzer’s novel The Interestings, as evidenced by the review I wrote back then. And while I can readily admit that The Interestings is not without flaws, I’m still dazzled by what it achieved: an astonishingly true-to-life examination of how a group of friends progresses over time. The Female Persuasion‘s publication was like … More The Book I Gave up on Twice: The Female Persuasion, by Meg Wolitzer
The Secret Love Life of Eleanor Roosevelt: White Houses, by Amy Bloom
July 19, 2018
Eleanor Roosevelt’s relationship with Lorena Hickok has been a source of controversy since the days it was happening in real-time. Were they secret lovers? Merely close friends? The topic has been endlessly debated. White Houses assumes that they were lovers, which seems reasonable, and purports to tell the story of their relationship. And it does, but … More The Secret Love Life of Eleanor Roosevelt: White Houses, by Amy Bloom
Living and Dying in Times of Crisis: The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
July 19, 2018
“It’s always a matter, isn’t it, of waiting for the world to come unraveled? When things hold together, it’s only temporary.” Simply put, The Great Believers is a novel about the fragility of life; how tenuous our grasp on it–and each other–is. It is also beautiful, honest, and funny. I am not ashamed to admit that … More Living and Dying in Times of Crisis: The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
Living and Dying the Native American Life in America: There There, by Tommy Orange
July 2, 2018
My favorite reading experiences either teach me about something I didn’t know much about or shine a light on parts of our culture I am unfamiliar with. Part of the urgency of reading Junot Díaz, for example, is that the stories he tells are usually left on the margins if they get told at all. … More Living and Dying the Native American Life in America: There There, by Tommy Orange
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