Vladimir Sorokin’s Anti-Realism Vladimir Sorokin’s Anti-Realism
For the Russian novelist, the end of Soviet literary and political culture marked the loss of a powerful foil.
Jul 23, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Gregory Afinogenov
The Life and Times of Cookie Mueller The Life and Times of Cookie Mueller
Her chronicles of the last days of American countercultural life New York's downtown scene bursts with energy.
Jul 20, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Zoe Dubno
What It Means to Be an Elderly Gay Man Today What It Means to Be an Elderly Gay Man Today
The latest entry in Andrew Holleran’s biographical fiction project, Kingdom of Sand, offers a portrait of the post-Stonewall generation confronting death and history.
Jul 19, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Gutterman Tranen
Tove Ditlevsen’s Unsentimental Education Tove Ditlevsen’s Unsentimental Education
The Danish novelist and poet was a rare writer—one who shunned sentiment but not empathy in her stories.
Jul 13, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Lily Meyer
A Different Kind of Trans Book: On Imogen Binnie’s “Nevada” A Different Kind of Trans Book: On Imogen Binnie’s “Nevada”
A classic of new trans lit, this novel wasn’t written to appease a non-trans readership.
Jul 7, 2022 / Books & the Arts / McKenzie Wark
Miguel Ángel Asturias’s Struggle Between Good and Evil Miguel Ángel Asturias’s Struggle Between Good and Evil
His novel Mr. President is a masterwork of political fiction and a prime example of linguistic beauty in the Latin American tradition.
Jul 5, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Mario Vargas Llosa
Elif Batuman Answers Our Burning Questions About the State of the Novel Elif Batuman Answers Our Burning Questions About the State of the Novel
A conversation about her new book Either/Or, the limits of aesthetic life, and much more.
Jul 1, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Najwa Jamal
Toe to Toe With “Moby-Dick” Toe to Toe With “Moby-Dick”
Pierre Senges’s avant-garde retelling of Melville's great work asks us what the limits of the novel are.
Jun 29, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Ryan Ruby
Fernanda Melchor’s Dark Morality Plays Fernanda Melchor’s Dark Morality Plays
In her third novel, Melchor turns her allegorical powers in an even more explicitly political direction.
Jun 27, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Nicolás Medina Mora
The Passion and Agony of the Bibliophile The Passion and Agony of the Bibliophile
Following an ardent and obsessive reader, Claire-Louise Bennett’s Checkout 19 asks if one can find all the things they need in life in a book.
Jun 6, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Vorona Cote