For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] At Laura Hankin’s launch event for her new novel The Daydreams, about a reunion show of an early 2000s teen drama, a fan asked what she had found in her research about celebrities in the early aughts that surprised her. Laura talked about a 2009 Vanity Fair article that described Jessica Simpson as “looking … Read more
[ad_1] John Irving has declared that his new book, an irresistible and deeply affecting family saga titled The Last Chairlift, will be the last long novel of his long career. And it is, indeed, the longest. The Last Chairlift teems with the raucous situational humor, memorable and resonant characters, righteous rage, instructive social commentary, and … Read more
[ad_1] “This book is not fiction,” Samatha Hunt asserts at the beginning of her new, ostensibly nonfiction book, The Unwritten Book. “My father is writing a novel disguised as a journal entry. However, much of his partial book is true to his life, tempting me to ask, is it all true? Then, as someone who … Read more
[ad_1] For all the antagonizing, ruminating, and even moralizing that comes with defining the parameters of literary fiction, perhaps the one point of (near-) universal agreement debators enjoy is over the notion that such a book should be in some way realistic, should faithfully reflect life and those who live it. How this is to … Read more
[ad_1] Sasha Fletcher is a poet who has catapulted himself onto the fiction scene with his first novel, Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World. An unpolished description of the text could be the following: an absurdist, historical fiction love story set in the near future. Sam and Eleanor are an … Read more
[ad_1] I’ve never understood the term “nonfiction novel.” For one, stories are either true or they’re not. Readers deserve a clean distinction between fact and fiction. But more than that, the term seems to arise from a misguided assumption that only novels can move and thrill readers, while nonfiction educates and informs them. And only … Read more
[ad_1] “Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.” —C.S. Lewis Take a seat at the table, get comfortable, and let’s talk about the magic of food in fiction. No matter how our memories come to us—whether an involuntary sensorial moment (explained best in Marcel Proust’s famous tea-soaked madeleine episode from In Search of … Read more
[ad_1] Never underestimate the power of a teacher, especially when the teacher is Philip Roth. I say this because my new novel is entitled Eternal, and it was inspired by a seminar I took with the late Philip Roth, way back when I was an English major at the University of Pennsylvania. I remember Mr. … Read more
[ad_1] I’ve always thought of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as the grandmother’s attic of the entire country: a snug space packed with antique items of erstwhile importance, objects no longer in direct use, but stowed away for current and future generations to contemplate. Some of the holdings enjoy more eminence than others. … Read more
[ad_1] Caitlin Horrocks’s second collection, Life Among the Terranauts, is compiled of humorous and tenacious stories that serve as a reminder that the flyover states are rife with folklore and intrigue. The sense of place matches the sense of wonder, a perfect amalgamation of geography and plot. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Bonnie … Read more