For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Before Ralph Ellison’s unnamed narrator took residence beneath the surface of the world in Invisible Man, there was Fred Daniels—the protagonist of Richard Wright’s long-awaited novel, The Man Who Lived Underground. The tragic tale of Daniels was borne from a lifetime of experiences, which Wright explains in the accompanying essay, “Memories of My Grandmother.” … Read more
[ad_1] Science fiction dystopias are often deployed as a means of examining politics, ideology, or technology, but for Izumi Suzuki, the medium serves an intimate exploration of anxiety, pain, and sadness. The translated stories collected in Terminal Boredom depend on science fiction dystopias, but focus on characters who are broken and seeking their own personal … Read more
[ad_1] I have known Angela Buck for sometime. We went to graduate school together at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where I knew her to be funny, thoughtful, and incredibly talented. Her new story collection, Horses Dream of Money, exemplifies all of those qualities. The collection blurs horror and humor, fantasy and realism. It highlights the … Read more
[ad_1] Montana is often called “Big Sky Country,” but you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the people inhabiting Deirdre McNamer’s Aviary. Set in an elderly housing facility called Pheasant Run, the novel is a tender and evocative portrait of life in its late stages, when confinement might be physical but the memory can still roam … Read more
[ad_1] The title of Gina Frangello’s debut memoir, Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason, can be read as an imperative: to destroy with the body a space created, inhabited, and processed by the self. This idea invites a certain scrutiny: why would anyone be moved to create such a rupture … Read more
[ad_1] In January 2013, J. Nicole Jones penned the essay “Why’s everyone so down on memoir?” In this piece, she examines the criteria for why writers perceive memoir as beneath the novel form. Within her investigation she grapples with Lorrie Moore’s claims that the faultiness of memory shows how memoir cannot convey the deeper meaning … Read more
[ad_1] With the beginning of spring, warmer weather, and longer days, we’re looking forward to spending more time outside and really focusing on our mental health. These books already helped get us through the long winter, and now we can’t wait to read, journal, and color somewhere other than our couches. If you’re also looking … Read more
[ad_1] With renewed interest across the country in Black-owned bookstores and booksellers—like Chicago’s own Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery—now is an important time to remember that Bronzeville was an epicenter of Black bookselling in the 1940s. Remembered mostly for its theaters, taverns, jazz clubs, and other venues of commerce, Bronzeville was a thriving Black Metropolis in … Read more
[ad_1] By looking beyond the surface clues to deeper and more unsettling realities, the detective story lends itself well to horror, even cosmic horror. There are no elder gods or supernatural terrors lurking in Hummingbird Salamander, Jeff VanderMeer’s newest novel, but I found myself reading with that kind of dread. A grippingly-paced and paranoid eco-thriller, … Read more
[ad_1] The surrealist painter Leonora Carrington is enjoying a renaissance of late, with renewed interest in both her visual art and literary work. The last few years have seen the publication of The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington (Dorothy Press), the memoir Down Below (New York Review Books), and, just this January, Carrington’s masterpiece The … Read more