A book review of Jesmyn Ward’s fourth novel, Let Us Descend, a historical fiction rendering of the pain of life under slavery. … More Let Us Descend, by Jesmyn Ward: A Spoiler-Free Book Review
Toni Morrison won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Beloved, a novel about the ghosts of slavery. Is it worthy of the title Great American Novel? … More Can America Reckon With the Ghosts of Slavery? Beloved: A Pulitzer Prize Deep Dive
Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, that classic saga of the American south, has been a beloved novel since it was first published. But is it inherently racist? … More Is Gone with the Wind Racist? A Pulitzer Prize Deep Dive
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
“We believe the one who has the power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story … More Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi: Book Review
“A body can’t prosper if a person don’t know who they are.” The Good Lord Bird is devilish entertainment. It’s a heady ride through a tumultuous time in American history that somehow manages the mean trick of making you laugh even as it deals with heavyweight subject matter. Its unique perspective is largely thanks to … More Book Review: The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride
Supposedly Fun 