Book Reviews

[ad_1] Adrienne Miller was the literary and fiction editor of Esquire from 1997 to 2006, a significant professional feat for a woman of twenty-five. She baffled the New York lit scene — past editors had all been men, and Esquire had published mostly male writers and famously sexist articles (including “How Women Age: A Man’s … Read more

[ad_1] In my circle of friends, the debate of whether baseball should be called a game or a sport comes up about once a month, more if it’s during baseball season itself. There’s plenty of passion on both sides of the argument, and even those that don’t watch or care for baseball have something to … Read more

[ad_1] While some books of historical fiction use a historical event or person only as a jumping-off point, others  are more biographical in nature, building on the factual details of a real person’s life with imagined thought, conflict and emotion. Allison Pataki’s new novel The Queen’s Fortune belongs mostly in the second category, but it … Read more

[ad_1] Shaun Prescott’s The Town is meta from the start. It concerns a wannabe writer who has taken up residence in a desolate town in the Australian Outback, with the intent to write a book on what he calls the “disappearing towns” of the region. To the writer, who also serves as narrator to the … Read more

[ad_1] The story of Chicago’s South Side often falls within two narratives — stereotypes of violence and crime, and brilliant, extraordinary individuals (like the Obamas) who find their way out. But this dichotomy is narrow and silences the experiences of many South Side residents. In reality, most don’t fall into these experiences, but somewhere in … Read more

[ad_1] In 2012, as President Barack Obama publicly announced his support for same-sex marriage and effectively paved the way for marriage equality, Carmen Maria Machado was freeing herself from an abusive girlfriend. Machado once fantasized about marrying her and starting a family. Yet it’s this dangerous lover who stalks the chambers of Machado’s heart in … Read more

[ad_1] Jac Jemc, author of the story collection False Bingo from MCD x FSG, was a writer from the start. She told her third-grade teacher her goal was to write a one-hundred page story; a goal she’s now surpassed many times over. While Jemc is most known for her speculative and horror work, due in … Read more

[ad_1] Helen Phillips is a widely celebrated author of speculative fiction. Her new novel, The Need, published in July by Simon & Schuster, was recently long-listed for the National Book Award. The stories from her previous book, Some Possible Solutions, combine elements of science fiction, fantasy, fairy tales, and surrealism. Curious about her writing process, … Read more

[ad_1] In her debut novel, A Kind of Freedom, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton was praised for her nuanced portrayal of intergenerational relationships between strong female black characters. In her much anticipated second novel, The Revisioners, Sexton returns with a lyrical family saga that traces multiple generations from the antebellum South (on the brink of the Civil … Read more

[ad_1] I’ve seen many blogs and Booktube videos about how Harry Potter inspired a whole generation of new authors to dedicate their lives to writing. That’s positively wonderful, and I’m truly happy for them that they were inspired to begin their author journeys from reading those books. There’s no doubt that HP has changed the … Read more