Review by David Starkey Claire Keegan’s novella Small Things Like These was released just before Christmas of last year. Set in a small Irish town during Christmas 1985, the book…
Tag: California Review of Books
The Magician by Colm Tóbín
Review by David Starkey We are clearly meant to sympathize with Thomas Mann, the title character of Colm Tóbín’s novel The Magician. A gay youth trapped in an uptight heterosexual…
The Sinking Middle Class: A Political History of Debt, Misery, and the Drift to the Right by David Roediger
Review by Brian Tanguay Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest men in America, made a statement in 2006 about class warfare which is often cited on the infrequent occasions when…
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Review by David Starkey In order to truly appreciate Emily St. John Mandel’s new novel, a reader should be familiar with her two previous efforts: the groundbreaking pre-Covid pandemic novel,…
Fire Island: A Century in the Life of an American Paradise by Jack Parlett
Review Essay by Walter Cummins Jack Parlett made his initial visit to the gay village of Cherry Grove on Fire Island in 2017 with his friend Celine by walking a…
The Unwritten Book: An Investigation by Samantha Hunt
Review by Walter Cummins Samantha Hunt subtitles The Unwritten Book an “Investigation.” The connotation of that word suggests a systematic analysis of clues. But what Hunt has really produced is…
Anthem by Noah Hawley
Review by David Starkey Noah Hawley’s new novel Anthem is set in a near, scarcely alternative future. The United States is riven by partisan divide, with the Alt Right on…
Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flynn
Review by Linda Lappin Combining exquisite lyrical prose, a gripping travel narrative, and meticulous scientific research in the fields of botany, biology, chemistry, genetics – investigative journalist, Cal Flynn, takes…
Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire & Revolution in the Borderlands by Kelly Lytle Hernandez
Review by Brian Tanguay On July 4, 1915, a band of armed and mounted Mexicans crossed the border and murdered three white men in southern Texas. For the next five…