An interview with debut novelist (at last!) Steve Almond.
Books
Book Review: The Lost Southern Chefs — A History of the Commercialization of Southern Hospitality
For all of the book’s fascinating revelations, The Lost Southern Chefs leaves the reader with a number of unanswered questions.
Poetry Review: “Continuous Creation” — A Farewell from a Grand Old Man of Australian Verse
Continuous Creation is a deceptively slight book from an incontrovertibly substantial poet.
Children’s Book Reviews: A Trio of Stories That Explore the Meaning of Love
Three looks at love that may help generate some interesting conversations about what love means in the lives of children.
Book Review: “How I Survived a Chinese ‘Reeducation’ Camp” — A Desperately Needed View of China
It is invaluable for the world to have an in-depth account from someone who passed through the Xinjiang re-education system and was brave enough to tell the tale.
Book Review: “Every Good Boy Does Fine” — A Career in Music, Elucidated With Brilliance
Pianist Jeremy Denk is a sensitive and articulate polymath who can elucidate his ideas about music with wit, humor, and style.
Poetry Review: “Time Is a Mother” – Grieving through Language
Ocean Vuong’s new collection of poetry is a dazzling investigation of love and loss, inspiring both nostalgia and release.
Book Review: “Harrow” — The Relentless Dystopia to Come
The world of Harrow is a Mad Max dystopia for intellectuals. It’s Bladerunner without the tech.
Book Review: “Hard Rain” — For Dylan Completists Only
It’s a work that shifts gears often, which is not in itself a bad idea for a book about a famed shape-shifter.
Book Review: “Work Pray Code” — Managing and Deploying Spirituality in Silicon Valley
A thorough sociologist, Carolyn Chen shows, step-by-step, how companies self-consciously appropriate religious language and rituals, creating a ‘theology’ in which work and purpose are perfectly aligned in the lives of their highest-value employees.