For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Much of Adam Langer’s finely wrought, raucously funny, and startlingly insightful new novel, Cyclorama, occurs within “The Annex,” an insular and endlessly drama-steeped theatrical enclave of a magnet high school just north of Chicago. True to its title, which refers to a 360-degree canvas in a theatrical rotunda, fashioned to provide a changeable visualization … Read more
[ad_1] Upon returning to Nuremberg after two years in Venice, an inspired Albrecht Dürer decided to combine the Italian and Germanic styles in a study of human form. He would paint a life-size diptych depicting a male and female nude, an expansion of an engraving he had carved before embarking on his Venetian trip. He … Read more
[ad_1] How would it feel to realize that your father or mother holds a muted distaste for you because your skin has suddenly ceased to be white? They no longer embrace you, or the conflicting tension in their eyes before welcoming you is too visible to ignore. Such is the premise of Mohsin Hamid’s latest … Read more
[ad_1] Sue Mell’s debut novel Provenance (Madville Publishing, July 19, 2022) focuses on DJ, a fifty-something writer living in Brooklyn, who is grieving his wife’s early death by blowing the insurance money on second-hand guitars, vinyl records, and vintage ephemera. When his apartment building is going to be sold, he moves in with his newly … Read more
[ad_1] There’s a certain meme that made its rounds throughout the queerer parts of Tumblr and Twitter several years ago, and still sometimes appears in conversation. In it, a person sees another person, and wonders, “do I want to be with them, or do I want to be them?” Lio Min’s new YA novel, Beating … Read more
[ad_1] It appears we have reached what they call the “dog days” of summer, though we admit we’ve never quite understood the phrase. But if you are finding yourself a little flattened by the heat, and it’s an effort even to step out your front door, let alone onto a boiling sidewalk, never fear. There … Read more
[ad_1] The six stories in Jem Calder’s debut collection, Reward System, paint our contemporary world in the hues of a dystopia. The tales play out across greater London—although without knowing that at the onset, it would be easy to confuse the setting as any major Western city. The same dilemmas facing Calder’s young characters could … Read more
[ad_1] Forget Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. Barbara Bourland ups the fairytale game with her latest novel, The Force of Such Beauty. Bourland is a Baltimore resident and the author of three novels. Her first book, I’ll Eat When I’m Dead, won critical acclaim for its satirical exposé of the fashion industry; her second novel, … Read more
[ad_1] Allie and Rooster are heading down to Asheville for Rooster’s new gig, a cushy stint as artist-in-residence at UNC. Rooster is more of a con artist than maker of art, but Allie doesn’t mind, because he’s good-looking, charming, and values what she is: a girl with a keen eye for abandoned places and a … Read more
[ad_1] In Lulu Wang’s film The Farewell—the story of Billi, a young Chinese-American woman who returns to China after several years to spend time with her dying grandmother, who remains ignorant of her own condition—there is a scene between Billi and her uncle in which he explains the difference in their perspectives. Billi believes the … Read more