For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Gabriel Krauze wastes not a single word getting to the action in his debut. Where many novelists hold their readers’ hands in the opening pages, slowly introducing them to the narrator, the world, and the characters that inhabit it, Who They Was instead pushes them face first and mid-sentence: “And jump out the whip … Read more
[ad_1] “Two deaths you cannot have and one you cannot avoid.” So goes a Russian saying Mikhail Iossel remembers in his excellent new collection Love Like Water, Love Like Fire. Funny thing about Iossel’s stories of Soviet life, though: they are filled with men and women living second lives, drunks who avoided death (to their … Read more
[ad_1] I was lying in a hospital bed and, according to my doctor, there was a good chance I wouldn’t make it through the night. I’d been having massive intestinal bleeding and they couldn’t pinpoint the source. I thought of my children, and the prospect of not seeing them grow up, of the beautiful palm … Read more
[ad_1] In her final, incomplete work, The Life of the Mind, Hannah Arendt sought to consider how thinking—an action so obvious its exploration appeared unnecessary—links vita activa, the active life, with vita contemplativa, the contemplative mind. Drawing on the intellectual history of ideas, Arendt posited that thinking creates neither morality nor understanding itself; but, instead, … Read more
[ad_1] Lauded Argentine journalist and author of Things We Lost in the Fire, Mariana Enríquez again delivers intrigue and brutality in her latest story collection, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell. Stories of spirits and disappearances collectively address the mystery of loss through narratives that are as gripping … 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
[ad_1] I’m tempted to say the modern idea of genre is a joke, except that it’s not funny. A sincerely curious, skilled, and committed writer can basically write whatever she wants, genre be damned. Yet certain genres are still elevated and others dismissed; the New York Times “By the Book” feature still regularly asks writers … Read more
[ad_1] Rating: 4.96/5 Thanks for watching! If you want me to do a part 2 make sure you press the thumbs up button!! Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.c… Merch: www.society6.com/abookutopia Audible: audible.com/abookutopia PO Box address (NOT MY HOME ADDRESS): Sasha Alsberg PMB 114 825 Waukegan Rd. A8 Lake Forest, IL Website: www.abookutopia.com My Social Medias: Instagram: @sashaalsberg … Read more