An Epistolary Reckoning With the Past in “Faltas” – Chicago Review of Books

An Epistolary Reckoning With the Past in “Faltas” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Before coming to America in search of a safer life as a transgender woman of color, renowned activist, performer, and now writer, Cecilia Gentili grew up in the small city of Galvez, Argentina, as the daughter of an Italian father and Argentinian mother. Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist, … Read more

Ancient Lands and New Wounds in the “Cash Murder Mystery Series” – Chicago Review of Books

Ancient Lands and New Wounds in the “Cash Murder Mystery Series” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Marcie Rendon’s mystery novels simultaneously inform and entertain readers, presenting current Native American issues through her heroine’s efforts to solve crimes perpetrated against society’s more vulnerable members in the early 1970s. When the Cash Blackburn series’ third volume opens, a body surfaces in the Red River Valley’s meltwater; the spring floodwaters on this North … Read more

Ambition and Artistry in “Life Is Everywhere” – Chicago Review of Books

Ambition and Artistry in “Life Is Everywhere” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] From the Latin ambitiō, by way of the Old French, across the Channel and the centuries through the Middle English, and finally to the modern day, comes to our protean patois that pleasant, well-groomed word ambition. To us, it is an unassuming noun, unusually simple, for English, to both pronounce and spell, invoking affirmation … Read more

Obsession as Catharsis in “Souvenirs from Paradise”  – Chicago Review of Books

Obsession as Catharsis in “Souvenirs from Paradise”  – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] “Obsessions are a way of knowing a person,” Erin Langner writes, and obsession is certainly a central subject in her debut essay collection, the Zone 3 Press Nonfiction Book Award-winner Souvenirs from Paradise. In its pages, Langner explores how her relentless “object appreciation” and preternatural curiosity have led her back to the Las Vegas … Read more

Abundantly Queer Horror in “Helen House” – Chicago Review of Books

Abundantly Queer Horror in “Helen House” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] How well can we ever know the people we love? Are there limits to healthy affection? Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya makes literal in her fiction the questions we might be afraid to ask. With her debut novelette, Helen House, these questions take a sinister turn. The story’s narrator and her girlfriend, Amber, share an intense … Read more

A Novel of the Frankenstein Women” – Chicago Review of Books

A Novel of the Frankenstein Women” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Though any book can be released, or read, at any time of year, October always seems to bring an extra helping of reading in the eerie/spooky vein. One of this October’s most deliciously Gothic new releases is Kris Waldherr’s inventive retelling of Frankenstein from the perspective of three women in Victor Frankenstein’s life, Unnatural … Read more

Stretching the Boundaries of American Political Reality in “Our Missing Hearts” – Chicago Review of Books

Stretching the Boundaries of American Political Reality in “Our Missing Hearts” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Following her critically acclaimed novels “Everything I Never Told You” and “Little Fires Everywhere” author Celeste Ng explores new territory in her latest novel “Our Missing Hearts” by stretching the boundaries of American political reality. This book, centering twelve year old Bird Gardner and his complex relationship with his absent mother, is set in … Read more

Surviving Racism in Erin E. Adams’s “Jackal” – Chicago Review of Books

Surviving Racism in Erin E. Adams’s “Jackal” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In her debut novel, Jackal, Erin E. Adams creates a horror story inspired by a tragically familiar and yet neglected issue in America—the epidemic of disappearing Black girls—and authorities’ and media’s lack of concern or coverage. The best social horror stories allow the inherent darkness of the social phenomenon at their hearts to show … Read more

12 Must-Read Books of October – Chicago Review of Books

12 Must-Read Books of October – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Spooky season is officially here, and you could say it’s downright scary how many exciting books are arriving in October. From triumphant returns from today’s biggest literary stars to exciting debuts, there’s something for everyone this month.  Whether you’re looking for an enjoyable fright or want to get lost in a book as the … Read more

The Subtext of Friendship in “Best Of Friends” – Chicago Review of Books

The Subtext of Friendship in “Best Of Friends” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] The best thing about Kamila Shamsie’s eighth novel, Best of Friends, is the story isn’t hinged on a friendship gnarled with sexual, bodily, or intellectual envy. The conflict is more nuanced, primarily marred by a class difference, but more implicitly by the contradictions that exist within a life-long friendship. At times, the characters feel … Read more