For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Kyle Dillon Hertz’s The Lookback Window starts in paradise. Or rather, it starts in a clothing-optional resort in South Florida. I found it apt to open the book here, a space of artificial beauty and peacefulness built directly on a foundation of unspoken terrors, all of which are fated to be erased by the … Read more
[ad_1] In avery r. young’s words, these are “10 Chicago, books, art, music that I dig. People do what they want to do. Check them out or miss out.” We couldn’t agree more. The Curtis album By Curtis Mayfield Curtom Records, 1970 It’s like the funk of Cottage Grove found its way to The Lyric … Read more
[ad_1] The debut novel of David Connor, Oh God, The Sun Goes, takes audiences on a cerebral ride—both literally and figuratively—journeying within a story that could sit comfortably on the shelf of multiple genres. From mystery to science fiction, to biological place fiction (if such a thing exists), Connor flexes his creativity and cognitive neuroscience … Read more
[ad_1] Reports of the death of Donald “Sully” Sullivan are somewhat exaggerated. In Somebody’s Fool, Richard Russo’s terrific new book in his North Bath, NY series, characters talk to Sully’s grave, look for the dead man to join them at the bar, and, when they are in a bind, they ask—maybe against their better judgment— What … Read more
[ad_1] A good short story can feel like a mystical experience, or leave a reader remorseful, longing. Kate Doyle’s debut is a collection of such stories, linked in subtle ways, that perfectly encapsulate what it’s like to reflect on your youth while you’re still in it. The young women in these stories are on the … Read more
[ad_1] Even the terminal dryness of bone hides inside our skin plainly, like dust on a mirror. This can guide us forward or not guide us at all. — Kaveh Akbar, “Portrait of the Alcoholic Three Weeks Sober” In 2017, I started taking notes for a novel I longed to write about a father and … Read more
[ad_1] In July, horror fans are spoiled for choice with the publication of a relative newcomer’s homage to classic horror as well as a new offering from a veteran of the genre. Josh Winning’s Burn the Negative is clearly the work of a horror film enthusiast, with references and tropes a-plenty for slasher buffs to … Read more
[ad_1] It’s fitting that the narrator of Ruth Madievsky’s debut novel, All-Night Pharmacy, is never given a name. Despite the first-person participant point of view, she seems to have sprung fully formed from the functions of those around her, namely her sister, Debbie. Her own traits, her own personhood, are obliterated when Debbie is around. … Read more
[ad_1] On the cover of Ripe, glistening red seeds cling to thin lines of white flesh—pomegranate innards. It is the perfect image for this book: close-up, torn open, almost bloody, almost biblical, impossible to ignore. Inside this cover, a deadly pandemic is creeping across the globe, rents are rising to untenable levels, and men are … Read more
[ad_1] In his debut story collection, The Best Possible Experience, Nishanth Injam creates characters in tight, liminal spaces, between homes and countries, and in transitional phases of life. From a young girl waiting for a gaggle of boys, to a man on a city bus, to a granddaughter and grandfather reflecting on their changing relationship, … Read more