Pleasure Boat Studio Review by Walter Cummins This new edition of Linda Lappin’s The Etruscan marks the twentieth anniversary of the novel’s initial publication in 2004. I reviewed it then,…
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The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life by Sophia Rosenfeld
Princeton Review by Walter Cummins In The Age of Choice, Sophia Rosenfeld, an academic historian, joins the perspectives of psychology and sociology to her historical presentation of developments in recent…
The Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Hogarth Review by Linda Lappin Anne Tyler’s delightful Vinegar Girl (2016) is often praised as a deliciously witty retelling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The novel shares the basic plot of much…
Flashlight by Susan Choi
Farrar, Straus & Giroux Review by Walter Cummins Flashlight’s nineteen sections, each focused on a situation in the life of a central character, are tour de forces, the situations inventive,…
Hating Jazz: A History of Its Disparagement, Mockery, and Other Forms of Abuse by Andrew S. Berish
Chicago Review by Nikolas Mavreas “Jazz is stupid. I mean, just play the right notes!” Though uninspired, this line from The Office TV series encapsulates a very common attitude. The…
An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life by Michael N. McGregor
Monkfish Review by Linda Lappin In An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life, Michael McGregor, writer, university professor, inveterate traveler, former fire fighter and Rick Steeves’ tour…
Pause the Document by Mónica de la Torre
Nightboat Review by Laura Mullen “These days walks are my cinéma vérité… // Walks are my party. My cinéma vérité. Nameste.”–Mónica de la Torre At a poetry festival recently a…
Dogs and Monsters by Mark Haddon
Doubleday Review by Walter Cummins The seven stories in Monsters and Dogs were written over a long period, their composition interrupted by Haddon’s triple heart bypass. That time span may…
The Peepshow: The Murders At Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale
Penguin Review by Walter Cummins The Peepshow, Kate Summerscale’s latest true crime book, goes beyond the gruesome details of serial butchery, with corpses stashed under floors, behind walls, and stuffed…