Books
An intriguingly speculative study argues that the history of world literature boils down to a power struggle between outsiders and insiders.
Read MoreBy Vincent Czyz In his latest book, acclaimed writer Orhan Pamuk has penned an intriguing memoir that focuses on his relationship with Istanbul, the city in which he has always lived. Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk. Knopf. Ottoman poets were fond of referring to Istanbul, then known to the world as Constantinople,…
Read MoreSpanish literary phenomenon Javier Marias has come up with a spy novel that is more concerned with a theoretical investigation of truth, trust, and betrayal than with cloak and dagger spying.
Read MoreKazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel explores a future that’s already happened. “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. (Knopf) By Liza Weisstuch In the popular imagination, science fiction novels are supposed to be set in the future, anywhere from two years ahead to centuries. Often, these stories ruminate on how the latest technology changes humanity and…
Read MoreAlbanian writer reflects on winning the inaugural Man Booker International Prize for Fiction.
Read MoreA new novel by a Chinese dissident provides a comically stinging vision of his homeland.
Read MoreA new book gives a philosophical analysis of American culture’s obsession with nonsense.
Read MoreA novel by a Nobel prize-winner from Iceland presents a journey into the center of a resolutely antic imagination.
Read MoreIn this moving memoir, the daughter of celebrated psychologist Erik Erikson meditates on how fame and ego shatter the foundations of family life. “In the Shadow of Fame: A Memoir by the Daughter of Erik H. Erikson” by Sue Erikson Bloland. (Viking) By Debbie Porter Sometimes, the lives of the famous resemble fairy tales: an…
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Visual Arts Review: Cartoon Memoirist
By Milo Miles Iranian expatriate Marjane Satrapi continues to expand the art of the comic book. Back in the ’40s, the long-standing prejudice that comic books were incapable of presenting serious, adult matters was exploded by such artists as Bernie Krigstein, Harvey Kurtzman, and Will Eisner. But the discovery of how just how uniquely valuable…
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