Purchase a copy for yourself here! On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is the first novel from the poet Ocean Vuong, a hybrid memoir and epistolary novel. It is narrated by Little Dog, a boy who shares a great deal with his author. The book is addressed to the narrator’s illiterate mother, whose education ended in… Continue reading On Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Tag: bookreviewblog
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Purchase a copy for yourself here! The Friend is the most recent novel by the writer Sigrid Nunez, which despite being her eighth novel, is responsible for catapulting her into the wider literary canon. The novel is told from the perspective of an aging writer and teacher, our narrator, who has just lost a beloved… Continue reading The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
The Ugly American by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick
Purchase a copy for yourself here! The Ugly American is widely considered to be a landmark text in American political science, one that altered the face of American diplomacy after its publication in 1958. The novel was a smash-hit when it was first published, and eventually turned into a film starring Marlon Brando in 1963.… Continue reading The Ugly American by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
Purchase a copy for yourself here! The story of war has always been a masculine story, but this was not true for Ethiopia and it has never been that way in any form of struggle. This is a line from the Author’s Note of Maaza Mengiste’s second novel, The Shadow King. The novel is a… Continue reading The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
Purchase a copy for yourself here! The Topeka School is the third novel from American poet and author Ben Lerner, the culmination of a literary trilogy of the auto fiction genre. Lerner gives his protagonist, Adam Gordon, a personal history that matches his own: a childhood in Topeka, Kansas, where Lerner was raised by two… Continue reading The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie
Purchase a copy for yourself here! Salman Rushdie’s latest novel, Quichotte, is a Cervantes adaptation for the Trump and Brexit age. The novel is a pastiche quest story that plays out within a road movie universe populated by pop culture references. The novel’s protagonist is Quichotte, a TV-obsessed traveling pharmaceutical salesman, who in his advanced… Continue reading Quichotte by Salman Rushdie
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Purchase a copy for yourself here! Angie Kim’s debut novel, Miracle Creek, is a richly textured thought experiment disguised as a courtroom drama. The novel begins with the explosions of a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber (HBOT), causing the death of two of its six occupants. HBOT is a somewhat controversial method of treating a variety… Continue reading Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Inland by Téa Obreht
Purchase a copy for yourself here! Inland is Téa Obreht’s follow up to her 2011 award-winning debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife. The novel is a historical epic that unfolds in the American West during frontier times, told from two perspectives. It switches between the voices of Herzegovinian immigrant and roaming outlaw, Lurie Mattie, and Nora,… Continue reading Inland by Téa Obreht
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Purchase a copy for yourself here! Dominicana is the third novel from Angie Cruz, a fictional retelling of Cruz’s mother’s journey from child bride to immigrant mother. The novel centers on the perspective of a fifteen year old girl, Ana Canción, who is living in the Dominican countryside with her family when we first meet… Continue reading Dominicana by Angie Cruz
The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine
Purchase a copy for yourself here! The Grammarians is the eleventh novel from Cathleen Schine, and like the ten that preceded it, it is suffused with Schine’s trademark erudite wit. The novel traces the lives of identical twins, Daphne and Laurel, as they navigate womanhood both together and apart. From birth, the twins share an… Continue reading The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine