Blown is a short and engrossing mystery novel that also stands as a morality play, an ethical fable that suggests that our own selves are perhaps the greatest mystery of all.
Thomas Filbin
Book Review: “Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts” — Pages of Glory
De Hamel’s history is a detective story, a love story, and a revelation of the nourishment to be found in celebrated libraries and collections.
Book Review: Richard A. Posner — A Rare Judge Who Tells Us How He Really Feels
Why didn’t a legal mind as brilliant as Richard Posner’s get to the Supreme Court? One suspects his candor and bluntness.
Book Review: Supreme Democracy? How Supreme Court Justices are Chosen
The history and process of judicial selection — dispassionately detailed.
Book Review: “The Hunger Saint” — Courage in a World of Pain
Olivia Kate Cerrone tells this story in raw, blunt terms, in a naturalistic mode worthy of Zola.
Book Review: “Four Princes” — Sixteenth Century Carnage
A historian’s view of the tumultuous world of early sixteenth century Europe, an age of exploration, revolt, and religious upheaval.
Fuse Book Review: Novelist Jay McInerney — Nimble Chronicler of America’s Upper Class
Jay McInerney’s characters may live on exotic mixed drinks and fine wines, but they still suffer moral dilemmas and have consciences they cannot silence.
Fuse Book Review: “A Hero of France” — An Insider’s Guide to the French Resistance
Alan Furst’s books are spy thrillers infused with a crisp, rather than a flowery, literary sensibility.
Book Review: “John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit” — A Sympathetic Look at a New England Aristocrat
James Traub has admirably captured the man inside the public figure, giving us a complex view of a typical New England grandee.
Book Review: “The English and Their History” — A Panoramic View of the Past
With this excellent volume, Robert Tombs offers further proof that there should be no variance between good history and good writing.