Roberta Silman

Fuse Book Review: “The Measures Between Us” — A Promising But Scattershot First Novel

November 8, 2013
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We are left with a somewhat scattered narrative written in the third person with an omniscient narrator that moves from one inner life to another, sometimes to good effect, and sometimes leaving the reader stranded.

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Fuse Book Review: “The Translator” — A Bumpy Quest Novel

October 31, 2013
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Nina Schuyler’s uneven novel raises some interesting questions in the course of the protagonist’s quest, and there are many fascinating details about Japan and Noh plays and the power of silence.

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Book Review: “The Old Priest” — Exquisite Stories About Being Human

October 15, 2013
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This small but important book is a collection of stories about being human. It explores, even probes, the inner recesses of its characters without pretense or flamboyance.

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Book Review: “The Hanging Garden” — A Posthumous Gift from a Literary Giant

August 4, 2013
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This novella is a gift to all of us who love Patrick White’s strangely alive prose and a welcome addition to his oeuvre. And for those who don’t know his work, it is a terrific way to be introduced to one of the 20th century’s finest writers.

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Theater Review: Chaim Potok’s “The Chosen” — Brought Memorably to Life on Stage

July 23, 2013
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The agile hand of adaptor and director Aaron Posner has given us a production of Chaim Potok’s novel “The Chosen” that our children and grandchildren must see.

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Book Review: “In the Land of the Living” — A Coming-of-Age Yarn Mixed With Grief

July 18, 2013
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Austin Ratner’s follow up to “The Jump Artist” is an an exuberant, terrific novel — for its weaknesses, as well as its strengths.

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Fuse Commentary: Letter from the Hinterland — Cheering on Children and the Arts

June 22, 2013
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What is perhaps most astonishing is that families of every economic stripe, even those for whom it is a great sacrifice, are seeing to it that their children experience these pleasures, despite the sad fact that schools all over the country are cutting back on arts programs.

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Book Review: Israeli Novelist A.B. Yehoshua’s Fascinating “Retrospective”

May 23, 2013
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This fascinating book ends, leaving the reader with all sorts of questions — but that is exactly what really good fiction always does. Opening our minds, etching characters in our imaginations, and generating all sorts of possibilities.

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Fuse Book Review: Inclement “Climates”

May 7, 2013
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While reading Andre Maurois’ “Climates” you feel your world narrowing in uncomfortable ways.

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Book Review: “The Wanting” — Ambitious and Audacious Fiction about the Middle East

April 16, 2013
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There are so many characters to root for in “The Wanting” that you tend to read with your head swimming, and with an increasing sense of urgency as the senseless is revealed to have a logic of its own.

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