Books

Book Review: “In Certain Circles” and “The Last Lover” — The Powerful and The Disappointing

September 22, 2014
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Elizabeth Harrower’s In Certain Circles is a stunning novel about class and marriage and power; Can Xue’s The Last Lover is a tedious surrealistic farce.

Books Interview: Heather Cox Richardson on the History of the Republican Party — Going Full Circle

September 22, 2014
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In this book, Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson explores the (d)evolution of the Republican Party from its founding in 1854 through the presidency of George W. Bush.

Book Interview: David Albahari’s “Globetrotter” — The Postmodern Émigré Blues

September 18, 2014
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Serbian writer David Albahari’s fascination with uncertainty fuels a grim, sardonic tragi-comedy in which silence plays an elemental but enigmatic role.

Book Review: “The Paying Guests” — Sarah Waters Serves Up More of History’s Ghosts

September 15, 2014
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We all have ghosts, the author seems to say. And in a larger sense, Sarah Waters’s ghosts are those of country and culture, her books a catalogue of the social changes shaking England from the Victorian era on.

Book Interview: Leonard S. Marcus on Robert McCloskey and the Art of the Picture Book

September 13, 2014
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The centennial of the author of Make Way For Ducklings is being celebrated with a series of lectures by scholar Leonard S. Marcus.

Book Review: Joni Mitchell — One Side, Now

September 8, 2014
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The pleasures of Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words are the pleasures of being a fly on the wall.

Book Review: The Darkly Droll, Desperately Farcical “Privy Portrait”

September 5, 2014
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Privy Portrait portrays a contemporary human being who has lost all handholds, all footholds, all practical, moral, and metaphysical support—except for that provided by the articles of his beloved encyclopedia.

Book Review: Donald Antrim’s “The Emerald Light in the Air” — Unabashedly Gorgeous

September 2, 2014
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The Emerald Light in the Air is important reading for those interested in the state of the American short story, or of American fiction in general.

Book Review: Lucinda Franks’s Memoir – A Deeply Romantic Story of a May-December NYC Power Couple

September 1, 2014
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Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Lucinda Franks’s writing can be brilliant, deeply honest, and startling; other times superficial, sentimental, New Agey, or simply not credible.

Book Review: “Love Made Visible” — A Poignant Memoir About Life With a Boston “Renaissance Man”

August 27, 2014
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We become participants in a chapter of American art history that raises important questions about what fame means, how much a part luck plays, and how we treat our artists. .

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