The Problem You Have by Robert Garner McBrearty

University of New Mexico Press Review by Jack Smith Robert Garner McBrearty’s The Problem You Have is a stunning collection of literary realism, often edgy realism, sometimes bordering on farce,…

The ISMs Series, Edited by Larry Warsh

Princeton University Press Review by David Starkey I first saw one of the ISMs books in a museum bookstore—the Whitney’s, I think. Pale blue, beautifully made and about the size…

The Letters of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Cristanne Miller and Domhnall Mitchell

Belknap / Harvard Review by David Starkey “Emily Dickinson was a letter writer before she was a poet,” professors Cristanne Miller and Domhnall Mitchell state in the opening sentence of…

Held by Anne Michaels

Knopf Review by David Starkey California Review of Books is a bit late to the party in reviewing Anne Michaels’ Booker-nominated third novel, Held, although perhaps we may be excused…

Rome: Pedestrians Beware by Rafael Alberti (trans. and with essays by Anthony L. Geist & Giuseppe Leporace)

Swan Isle Review by David Starkey As someone who has spent a fair bit of time in the Eternal City, I can say that in order to truly love Rome,…

Memories of Distant Mountains by Orhan Pamuk

Knopf Review by David Starkey Writing in the New York Times, Dwight Garner dismissed Orhan Pamuk’s Memories of Distant Mountains: Illustrated Notebooks, 2009-2022 as “breezy and frictionless,” “a book of…

I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition by Lucy Sante

Penguin Review by David Starkey The paperback version of Lucy Sante’s I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition was published on January 21, 2025, the day after…

An Interview with Sonicbond Publisher Stephen Lambe

Interview by David Starkey Stephen Lambe founded Sonicbond Publishing in 2018, after spending most of his career working for independent non-fiction publishers. During his time in the industry, Lambe learned…

A Sunny Place for Shady People: How Malta Became One of the Most Curious and Corrupt Places in the World by Ryan Murdock

Trinity Review by David Starkey Ryan Murdock’s A Sunny Place for Shady People: How Malta Became One of the Most Curious and Corrupt Places in the World feels like two…

Portraits in Life and Death by Peter Hujar

Liveright Review by David Starkey Originally published in 1976, Peter Hujar’s Portraits in Life and Death might well be called Portraits of Life in Death or Portraits of Death in…