For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] One hundred and twenty one years after his death, Irish playwright and poet Oscar Wilde still resonates with readers, romantics and rebels all over the world. Still considered controversial by some—mostly when dissecting his personal life—his wit and outspokenness seem to have stood the test of time and, dare I say, more relevant than … Read more
[ad_1] Thanksgiving is upon us, and I’m especially grateful for my Chicago Review of Books colleagues, whose collaborative generosity and literary talents are matched by their passion for books of all kinds. I asked them an impossible question, which, as is my wont, turned in a multi-part query: what’s a book that you’re thankful for, or return … Read more
[ad_1] It’s always challenging to sum up a short story collection: each story can be as idea-rich as a novel, and good collections show off an author’s range at least as much as they gesture towards recurring themes. Charlie Jane Anders is an inventive writer with a dazzling skill for short stories, and her new … Read more
[ad_1] For three years, Preti Taneja taught creative writing in a program overseen by Cambridge University called Learning Together, in which undergraduates travelled to a local high-security prison to study alongside prisoners. On November 29, 2019, Usman Khan, a former prisoner and one of Taneja’s former students, travelled to London to attend an event at … Read more
[ad_1] The Love Makers begins with a two-hundred-page novel by Aifric Campbell, Scarlett and the Gurl. Over the span of a day, on a road trip in the near future, the reader meets two archetypes: a bourgeoise woman named “Scarlett” and a poor woman who calls herself “Gurl,” honouring herself with the universality of gender. … Read more
[ad_1] One of the most stunning poems written out of grief is Hilda Morley’s “For Stefan 26 Months Later.” There, the poet imagines the grand gestures of loss, but is left, …wish[ing] only to see you sitting with me at a table & a red-and-white tablecloth between us, nothing more Morley’s poem cuts to the … Read more
[ad_1] If there is an academic in America most committed to the idea of literature as a vast, human project, an artistic process of knowing and revealing that spans across social and political boundaries—even historical epochs—it is Harvard University’s David Damrosch. In his latest offering, Around the World in 80 Books, the founder and director … Read more
[ad_1] Tishani Doshi’s fourth volume of poetry, following 2018’s Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, marks a transition in her exploration of growing and aging as a woman. Where her earlier work focused on the internal and the bodily, A God at the Door reinvents the ancient equation of femininity and the natural world … Read more
[ad_1] It would be remiss to read Lucille Clifton’s Generations: A Memoir, recently reissued by New York Review of Books, without considering the moment in which this book—Clifton’s sole memoir—was first released. Published in 1976, Generations emerged the year before the miniseries “Roots” aired on national television eight consecutive nights in a row, a year … Read more
[ad_1] A newer trend in diaspora writing, which has fast become one of my favorite sub-genres, is that of the disillusioned millennial surrounded by the legacy of prior generations. Beyond the usual response of confusion and determination, our protagonists are apathetic and often unlikeable. Sanjena Sathian, author of Gold Diggers, writes “They—the outside world—hardly know … Read more