Work Is a Funny Thing in Adelle Waldman’s ‘Help Wanted’
Nickel and Dimed meets a suburban big box store in Adelle Waldman’s unexpectedly humorous, dystopian workplace caper, Help Wanted.
book review
The Journey Motif in ‘The Half-Life of Guilt’ Is No Guilt Trip
There is no guilty pleasure in reading Lynn Stegner’s The Half-Life of Guilt. There is only pleasure.
Premee Mohamed’s Sci-Fi ‘We Speak Through the Mountain’ Is a Call for Cooperation
Premee Mohamed’s We Speak Through the Mountain is a school story set in a future that looks startlingly close to our times, sentient fungal infections notwithstanding.
Ananda Lima’s Mystical and Metafictional Dance with the Devil
Poet and translator Ananda Lima’s debut fiction, Craft, is an absorbing mystical and metafictional dance with the Devil.
Naomi Novik’s Fantastical Feminist Worlds
Award-winning speculative fiction writer Naomi Novik’s short stories are collected in Buried Deep, revealing the range of her fantastical feminist worlds.
‘Mettlework’ Excavates Myths of American Motherhood
Poet and author Jessica E. Johnson’s memoir Mettlework excavates myths of motherhood and girlhood in mining towns across America.
Championing Change: Eddie Ahn’s Graphic Memoir ‘Advocate’
With his graphic memoir Advocate, Eddie Ahn invites readers to contemplate the complexities of pursuing social justice within a profit-driven world.
Strolling Down the Beatles’ Penny Lane and Through Strawberry Fields
Jonathan Cott provides a concise overview of two of the Beatles’ greatest songs in his book Let Me Take You Down: Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever.
When Silence Roars: Rock Widows on When the Music Stops
The interviews of rock widows in I Can’t Remember If I Cried reveal life for these women when their husbands exit the stage, the music stops, and the silence roars
‘Grief Is for People’ Is a Loving Model for Sudden Loss
Grief Is for People is a loving portrait of a dear friend and an offering of shared wisdom for the bereaved rooted in emotional chaos and its subsequent clarity.
The Magnificent Dance of ‘The Swans of Harlem’
In her dance history book The Swans of Harlem, author Karen Valby structures a magnificent, wide-ranging, complex narrative that’s both engaging and emotional.
‘1967’ and Robyn Hitchcock’s Quest to Stay High for Eternity
Robyn Hitchcock’s memoir 1967 taps into the music high that untethered the restraints of boarding school and shaped his life and music for eternity.