Putnam Review by George Yatchisin Kiley Reid’s second novel Come and Get It might appear to be a campus-set comedy of manners, but the joke will be on you if…
Category: Fiction
American Spirits by Russell Banks
Knopf Review by Walter Cummins It may be me, but I find the three stories of Russell Banks’ posthumous American Spirits collection to be examples of gallows humor despite the…
Last Acts by Alexander Sammartino
Scribner Review by George Yatchisin If fathers and sons didn’t exist, novelists would have had to invent them. Alexander Sammartino, in his debut novel Last Acts, dishes up quite a…
James by Percival Everett
Doubleday Review by David Starkey If you were going to choose an author to rewrite The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Jim/James, it would be…
Two Perspectives on Thomas Mann and his Translator: Mrs. Lowe-Porter by Jo Salas and The Magician by Colm Tóbín
Jackleg | Scribner Essay by Jinny Webber Thomas Mann, Nobel Prize-winner for literature in 1929, is the magician of Colm Tóbín’s novel. In his review in this journal, David Starkey…
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
Norton Review by Brian Tanguay Whether he’s working as a war photographer or fixer, betting his last chips at the blackjack table, or pursuing handsome young men, Maali Almeida can’t…
Fourteen Days: A Collaborative Novel, Edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston
Harper Reviewed by Walter Cummins Although the Covid-19 outbreak of 2020 didn’t turn out to be nearly as bad as the 14th century European Black Death, in the midst of…
The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore
Scribner Review by George Yatchisin How unreasonable, the Age of Reason, especially for an illiterate—if wildly, imaginatively thoughtful—peasant. A.K. Blakemore’s new novel The Glutton might be based on a wisp…
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Riverhead Review by David Starkey In some respects, Lauren Groff’s latest novel is an old-fashioned adventure tale. It begins with a teen girl, “bony and childish small” but quick, smart…
This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs
Little, Brown Review by George Yatchisin If you have ever wondered what life’s like for a one-hit wonder, Susanna Hoffs’ debut novel This Bird Has Flown is for you. The…