C Pam Zhang’s Radical Retelling of Western Myths C Pam Zhang’s Radical Retelling of Western Myths
Her novel How Much of These Hills Is Gold follows two Chinese American siblings’ quest to find home amidst the prejudice and danger of the frontier.
Sep 8, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Larissa Pham
Is This the First Great Quarantine Novel? Is This the First Great Quarantine Novel?
Alice Knott tells the story of a housebound heiress going slowly mad from a combination of 24-hour news and isolation.
Sep 2, 2020 / Brooks Sterritt
The Radical Afterlives of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha The Radical Afterlives of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
The South Korean–born author of Dictée was killed at 31. Four decades later, her landmark experimental novel is poised for wider rediscovery.
Aug 20, 2020 / Mayukh Sen
For Ottessa Moshfegh, Novel Writing Is a Spiritual Experience For Ottessa Moshfegh, Novel Writing Is a Spiritual Experience
We talked to the writer about how she composes her books and how she gets into the minds of her characters.
Aug 6, 2020 / Q&A / Rosemarie Ho
The Tangle of Desire and Class in ‘Normal People’ The Tangle of Desire and Class in ‘Normal People’
The television adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel depicts how people can fall in love in a world structured by power.
Jul 28, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz
J.M. Coetzee’s States of Exile J.M. Coetzee’s States of Exile
In writing an allegory that is barely an allegory and a trilogy of novels that are often not novels, Coetzee appears to have made his own literary displacement total.
Jul 14, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Siddhartha Deb
Not Catharsis but Vengeance: The Startling Fiction of Fernanda Melchor Not Catharsis but Vengeance: The Startling Fiction of Fernanda Melchor
Her novel Hurricane Season burrows into the circumstances of a small-town murder and what it says about a society that disregards femicide.
Jul 9, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Lucas Iberico Lozada
Maria Reva’s Mordant and Profound Fiction Maria Reva’s Mordant and Profound Fiction
In her short story collection, Good Citizens Need Not Fear, Reva documents the chaos, joy, and serendipity of life before and after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Jun 29, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson
Between Mystery and Social Democracy: A Journey Through Scandinavian Crime Novels Between Mystery and Social Democracy: A Journey Through Scandinavian Crime Novels
We talked to Wendy Lesser about her new book Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery and just why this regional genre continues to strike a chord.
Jun 24, 2020 / Q&A / Rachel Monroe
Mary Gaitskill’s Art of Loneliness Mary Gaitskill’s Art of Loneliness
Through her portraits of solitude, Gaitskill forces us to recognize those moments of subtle connection.
May 5, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Maggie Doherty