Book Reviews

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Arts

Myth, Fantasy And Sci-Fi Dovetail In 'Archivist Wasp'

3:36pm May 13, 2015

by Jason Heller

Nicole Kornher-Stace's new novel follows Wasp, an Archivist tasked with hunting ghosts to scavenge information about the past for her primitive post-apocalyptic society — where all is not as it seems.

Books
Arts

Remembering A Troubled Brother In 'Lord Fear'

1:05pm May 13, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

Lucas Mann's new memoir pieces together family memories to create a portrait of his heroin-addicted older brother, who died of an overdose. Critic Heller McAlpin calls it difficult but necessary.

Books
Arts

'Zombie Wars' Documents An Apocalypse Of Bad Decisions

12:06pm May 13, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Aleksandar Hemon's darkly hilarious new novel follows a sad-sack Chicago teacher whose screenwriting dreams lead to catastrophe. Critic Michael Schaub calls it "crazy in the best sense of the word."

Books
Arts

The Artistry Fails In 'Trompe L'Oeil'

6:15pm May 12, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Even talented artists have trouble creating the illusions known as "trompe l'oeil." Critic Michael Schaub says Nancy Reisman's tragic new novel of the same name never jumps into three dimensions.

Ted Lewis' gritty storytelling takes readers inside London's seedier quarters.

Books
Arts

Gangsters, Goons And 'Grievous Bodily Harm' In Ted Lewis' London

5:29pm May 08, 2015

by John Powers

Soho Press recently reissued the late British crime writer's final novel. Critic John Powers says Lewis' GBH is a pulp-fiction triumph worthy of Jim Thompson or James Ellroy.

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Books

Six Weeks In World War I Transformed How Wars Are Fought

7:22pm May 07, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with historian Diana Preston about her book A Higher Form of Killing: Six Weeks in World War I That Forever Changed the Nature of Warfare.

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Arts

'The Argonauts' Is A Voyage Through Parenting, Partnership And Transition

12:41pm May 07, 2015

by Tomas Hachard

Maggie Nelson's philosophical memoir uses her pregnancy — and her partner Harry's gender transition — to explore larger questions about the changing ways we approach marriage and motherhood.

Books
Arts

Flexible, Fluid 'Revision' Bounces From Rom-Com To Sci-Fi

10:03am May 07, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

What if you could rewrite reality? Andrea Phillips' debut novel follows an unambitious barista whose life is turned upside down when she discovers a website that lets her change lives with a click.

Books

Book Review: 'The New World'

7:55pm May 06, 2015

by Alan Cheuse

NPR's Alan Cheuse reviews the novel, The New World, by Chris Adrian and Eli Horowitz.

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Books
Arts

In 'Subprimes,' Swiftian Satire Hits Close To Home

11:56am May 06, 2015

by Jean Zimmerman

Karl Taro Greenfeld's new book imagines a near-future America where credit scores determine your fate, and a new generation of Okies travel the country in dilapidated SUVs, searching for prosperity.