Proximity to the Natural World and Loving What is Broken in “Shy” – Chicago Review of Books

Proximity to the Natural World and Loving What is Broken in “Shy” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] When I was in middle school, I was haunted by the Boomtown Rats’ song “I Don’t Like Mondays.” A local radio station in Atlanta played the song every Monday morning, and it would remind me of dreary weeks at school and what I thought was my sad, inevitable march toward adulthood. The song features … Read more

Lessons in Loving in “Blue Hour” – Chicago Review of Books

Lessons in Loving in “Blue Hour” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] The shortest novels I have read tend to follow one of two trajectories: a steady build towards a climactic event, or regular shifts between calm and upset. Tiffany Clarke Harrison’s debut novel Blue Hour is of the latter variety, keeping you poised for disaster with the turn of every page. The multi-ethnic photographer who … Read more

On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter” – Chicago Review of Books

On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Anyone who has lost a beloved pet knows the profound grief that can accompany this experience. And yet, while there are many codified rituals for mourning a human loved one, mourning a pet’s death can be more amorphous. In her compassionate and revelatory new book Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, author … Read more

The Delusion of Work Loving You Back in “The Work Wife” – Chicago Review of Books

The Delusion of Work Loving You Back in “The Work Wife” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Alison B. Hart’s incisive debut novel, The Work Wife, captures one day in the lives of esteemed Hollywood director Ted Stabler’s three wives—his ex-wife, his current wife, and his work wife. Each of these women struggles, with varying levels of success, to balance her relationships and creative goals with work and its attendant power … Read more

Loving, Hating, Living, and Transcending the Canon in “Either/Or” – Chicago Review of Books

Loving, Hating, Living, and Transcending the Canon in “Either/Or” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] “Generous reading” is an approach to ideas that was in vogue among my friends in college. In brief, its precepts demand that new and even disagreeable arguments be afforded as much credence as possible. One could be critical only after deeply entertaining the worldview presented, suspending disbelief beyond the confines of fiction. But when … Read more