Hardie Grant Review by Brian Tanguay California’s geographic diversity and beauty has long inspired seekers, dreamers, and people of capacious imagination. The state’s many natural wonders dwarf our human stature…
Tag: California Review of Books
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…
Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life by John Gray
Picador Review by Walter Cummins As I read John Gray’s Feline Philosophy, I couldn’t help thinking of the concluding lines of Archibald McLeish’s “Ars Poetica”—“A poem should not mean / But…
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…
Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House by Katerina Stoykova
Kentucky Review by H. L. Hix Immigration is a pressing public policy issue. Millions worldwide are fleeing conditions of grave danger or extreme hardship in one country for conditions they…
The Berman Murders: Unraveling the Mojave Desert’s Most Mysterious Unsolved Crime by Doug Kari
Rowman & Littlefield Review by Brian Tanguay Unsolved murders are commonplace in some parts of the world. People disappear, bodies are dumped, and overwhelmed, under-resourced or corrupt officials refuse to…
Erasure and American Fiction: Percival Everett in Fiction and Film
Graywolf Press | Orion Pictures Essay by Walter Cummins Is if fair to compare a book and its movie version? A friend who was a Hollywood writer argues that they…
A Scrap in the Blessings Jar: New and Selected Poems by David Bottoms
LSU Review by David Starkey Now that I’ve read A Scrap in the Blessings Jar, I’m not sure how the late David Bottoms flew under my radar for so long.…
Soil: The Story of A Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
Simon & Schuster Review by Brian Tanguay Gardening and mindfulness cannot help but go hand in hand. The work of planting and tending a garden, whether in a suburban yard…