A Bridge Between Now and Then in “Burning Roses” – Chicago Review of Books

A Bridge Between Now and Then in “Burning Roses” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In Burning Roses, S. L. Huang treats a fairy tale as merely the prologue to the rest of a life. We meet Little Red Riding Hood, Rosa, as an older woman already looking back on her life. The famous encounter with the wolf at her grandmother’s house is long behind her—far from the guiltless … Read more

To Be Excited and Confused in “This Isn’t Happening” – Chicago Review of Books

To Be Excited and Confused in “This Isn’t Happening” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In his new book, This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s “Kid A” and the Beginning of the 21st Century, a story centered on the Radiohead album Kid A, music critic Steven Hyden—without meaning to—asks the “Where were you when…” question regarding the album’s release: “I know I bought Kid A the day it came out, as … Read more

The Little Witch | Tor.com

The Little Witch | Tor.com

[ad_1] TK     The first time I saw her, I remarked on her footwear. “Oh, you’re a red-boot witch,” I said, and shared a brief conspiratorial laugh with a woman I assumed was the mother. The little witch did not join in, however. She looked up at me with a solemn gaze, gray eyes … Read more

Recovery and Reinvention in “Like a Bird” – Chicago Review of Books

Recovery and Reinvention in “Like a Bird” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies, author Resmaa Menakem challenges us to think of white supremacy as “white-body supremacy” because “every white-skinned body, no matter who inhabits it — and no matter what they think, believe, do, or say — automatically benefits from it.” In … Read more

The Layered Explorations of Self in “Piranesi” – Chicago Review of Books

The Layered Explorations of Self in “Piranesi” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Sixteen years after the publication of her breakout novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke’s second novel has arrived. The new novel, Piranesi, bears a family resemblance to its predecessor, sharing its unique creative vision and a detailed approach to the fantastic. Though these features appear in a very different time and place, … Read more

Finding the Fault Lines of American Society in “Carry” – Chicago Review of Books

Finding the Fault Lines of American Society in “Carry” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Like a murmuration of starlings, Toni Jensen’s new book Carry changes its shape constantly and effortlessly. Its subtitle is A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land, but this book is more than a memoir. It is also a revealing lexicon, a sharp analysis, a well-sourced argument, and a damning indictment. Its form changes even … Read more

Class and Conversations in “We Need To Talk” – Chicago Review of Books

Class and Conversations in “We Need To Talk” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Inequality may be as old as human society, but never has it been this extreme, quantifiable and remediable. We’ve seen everyone from the Pope to Bernie Sanders to Thomas Piketty break it down. In meme-speak, guillotine GIFs have been proliferating on Twitter since 2016. But COVID-19 has made the message irrefutable. The fallout from … Read more

Why Intelligence Fails and Succeeds in “The Spymasters” – Chicago Review of Books

Why Intelligence Fails and Succeeds in “The Spymasters” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Double agents, covert operations, moles, dead drops, deep-sixed tapes, election meddling, secret identities, enhanced interrogation, brush passes, assassinations — when it comes to spy work, there is no shortage of bizarre and misshapen determinants that capture one’s imagination. And if these things are happening, what else is going on? The possibilities seem endless, especially … Read more