Books

Literary Homage: Denis Johnson, American Dostoevsky

May 28, 2017
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Denis Johnson’s spiritual vision was dark and more than a little scary but also supremely generous.

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Book Review: Denis Johnson’s “California Scheming”

May 28, 2017
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Denis Johnson sees that New Age thinking is a response to something very American, very late-twentieth-century—namely the precariousness of identity.

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Book Review: “Age of Anger” — Politics United in Hate

May 28, 2017
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In his profound new book Age of Anger, historian Pankaj Mishra finds the key to Trump-worship.

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Book Review: “Rapture” — Modernism, Daredevil Style

May 21, 2017
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Rapture is a worthwhile curio that grapples, entertainingly, with Modernism’s artistic, structural, and revolutionary quandaries.

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Book Review: Polish Poet Czesław Miłosz — Master of the Telling Detail

May 13, 2017
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For a reader without the reference points of mid-twentieth century Lithuania and Poland, this deeply researched biography can be a slog.

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Book Review: “Shake It Up” — Great American Writing on Rock and Pop

May 8, 2017
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On the whole, this anthology, along with igniting discussions about sins of omission, will make for entertaining browsing.

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Book Review: Gershom Scholem — A Rich and Complicated Jewish Life

May 2, 2017
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George Prochnik’s biography of Gershom Scholem is flawed, but well worth reading, especially for those struggling with their Jewish and Israeli identities.

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Book Review: “The Dogs of Inishere” — The Ambiguities of Desire

May 1, 2017
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Alannah Hopkin demonstrates a near impeccable sense of craft, including a talent for coming up with surprises.

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Poetry Review: Lyrical Outrage — Songs of the Resistance

April 30, 2017
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Many of the poems live up to the title’s shout-out to Walt Whitman, cutting through the current political miasma with fresh wit, insight, and lyrical outrage.

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Book Review: “A Line Made By Walking” — A Lyrical Portrait of a Depressed Artist

April 24, 2017
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Sara Baume’s sophomore novel insists that we rethink the value of empathy: depend on it, yes, but also be suspicious.

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