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All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

August 15, 2016

ugly

Sometimes there are great books that are almost impossible to review. An example is A Little Life—a novel of abuse that, while it was brilliant, was not for everyone. But, what was not difficult about it was the fact of the abuse—a subject that does not divide or cause unease. Bryn Greenwood ‘s debut novel All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is the opposite of A Little Life in ... Read More...

13 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, childhood, contemporary life, literary, Thomas Dunne Books

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra

July 20, 2016

tsar of love

I could not pass up the opportunity to share the love again for a book that I adored. I'm not a big short story reader, but Marra connects the dots so well that The Tsar of Love and Techno reads like an abstract art of a novel. It comes out in paperback tomorrow so if you missed it the first time around, read it now!   For art to be the chisel that breaks the ... Read More...

7 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, Hogarth, literary, Russia, short stories

Break in Case of Emergency

July 17, 2016

break in case

  Poor Jen. She was an artist while in college, but gave up after school and got a communications job at a non-profit. Which then hit hard times and laid her off. Now she’s at a new foundation started by Leora Infinitas (that’s not a typo on my part), a former sitcom star who achieved her wealth by marrying old money. Literally, her husband was old. And then he died and ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Brooklyn, debut, friendship, Knopf, literary, marriage, satire

How to Set a Fire and Why

July 5, 2016

how to set a fire

You may be wondering why I am giving you this account. Well, I don’t know really. A bunch of things happened and I’m just putting them in order. I’m doing it for myself. You are just a construction—you’re helping me to put things in order.  You are my fictional audience and as such, I appreciate you very much. I figure when I finish, I will throw this out. Lucia Stanford ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, contemporary fiction, literary, Pantheon, teen years

The World Without Us

June 22, 2016

  Tess Müller hasn’t spoken in six months. Her mother, Evangeline, pushes a pram around all the time. Her younger sister draws trees and more trees. In most places they would stand out, but in the Australian town of Bidgalong strange is a relative concept. For decades the hills near the town were home to a cultish commune known as The Hive with its alpha male leader ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Australia, Bloomsbury, family, literary

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty

June 20, 2016

sons and daughters

  It seems like a fairly straightforward equation: a father plus a mother plus three children equals happiness, but when the pluses that bind their reality is removed these elements no longer add up and the results are wholly unexpected. In Ramona Ausubel’s new novel Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty the plus is money, lots and lots of it, enough that Fern and Edgar ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1960s, 1970s, book clubs, family, literary, Riverhead Books

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