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Ann Beattie's Latest, 'A Wonderful Stroke of Luck' Leaves This Reader Feeling Hapless

Disaffected prep school youth, seemingly from another era, stumble through the immediate wake of a post-9/11 America in Ann Beattie's A Wonderful Stroke of Luck.

Reviews

'Article 353' Explores Who Might Mete Out Justice When the Law Fails

Article 353 is Tanguy Viel's politically charged, darkly atmospheric, and cathartic indictment of neoliberal capitalism.

Books

On John O'Hara's 'Appointment in Samarra', 'Butterfield 8', 'Hope of Heaven', and 'Pal Joey'

Party girls, cads, and hopeless dreamers from a distant but eternally familiar past -- John O'Hara was a writer who deserved his place in the bleacher section of Great American Writers.

Books

Maylis de Kerangal's 'The Cook' Is a Classic Case of Style Over Substance

There is a lot of enjoyable sleight of hand in de Kerangal's The Cook, but ultimately the author fails to engage with the questions it raises.

Books

Esi Edugyan's 'Washington Black' Fails to Problematize Critical Race Issues

In her latest revisionist history, Washington Black, Esi Edugyan points toward colonial theory without critically addressing affirmations of white power.

Books

Approach 'John Updike: Novels 1959-1965' with Indulgence, Patience, and Caution

The Library of America's new edition of John Updike's first four novels will engage -- and challenge -- contemporary readers.

Books

Power, Sex and Love in Sally Rooney's 'Normal People'

The Irish novelist Sally Rooney centers her drama, Normal People, around the desperations of youth under late-capitalism, but the novel's psychological excavations, nuanced and piercing, owe just as much to the influence of Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf.

Books

Small Books for Big Brains: Red Circle Minis' Pocket-sized Japanese Fiction

Why must I tote around a book the size of a '90s-era laptop computer, carried in a bag slung over aching shoulders and twisted back, while my friends in Japan can enjoy the same book slipped near weightlessly into their pants pocket?

Books

'The World Is a Narrow Bridge' Is a Metaphysical Pilgrimage for Our Time

If Pratchett and Gaiman's Good Omens is an artifact of '90s apocalypse hullabaloo notable for its wry wit, petty divine figures, and surrealistic flourishes, then The World Is a Narrow Bridge plays a similar role in our angst-ridden, oversaturated media landscape/world of 2016 and beyond.

Books

Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The Maximalist Thrills of 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf'

The mythical Africa of Marlon James' bloody new surrealist fantasy epic, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, terrifies as much as it bewitches.

Books

Joseph Scapellato's 'The Made-Up Man' Brings Forth 21st Century Absurdism

In rendering his most avant-garde characters as members of a kind of self-help conspiracy in The Made-Up Man, Joseph Scapellato offers not an update but a revision of absurdism, and as such, many social phenomena ripe for satire get off easy.

Books

Michael Donkor Brings Forth the Power of Women in 'Housegirl'

Michael Donkor's Housegirl, a PopMatters' pick, is a strong debut novel about traditional changes and personal awakenings.

Books

On the Queer Millennial Greenlandic Novel, 'Last Night in Nuuk'

Niviaq Korneliussen's third novel, Last Night in Nuuk, tackles homophobia, coming out, millennial malaise, finding love, being a shit friend, and so much more.

Books

Fracturing to Survive in Tanya Tagaq's 'Split Tooth'

Inuk musician/writer Tanya Tagaq's first novel, Split Tooth, tells a magical, fucked-up story about teenage girls' adolescence in the Arctic.

Books

'Vita Nostra' Is a Tantalizing Fantasy That Forces Us to Question Our Own Humanity

Sergey and Marina Dyachenko's Vita Nostra is a mysterious Ukrainian sci-fi / fantasy / fairy tale whose unsettling questions will linger.

Books

Markus Zusak's 'Bridge of Clay' Respects a Young Person's Desire for Agency

Considering its YA audience, Markus Zusak's Bridge of Clay is a superb and accessible gateway to developing critical literacy skills.

Books

Pop Ten

MetalMatters: May 2019 - Back to the Basics and Prepare for Takeoff

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

Never Ending Endings in 'The Avengers: Endgame' and 'Game of Thrones'

'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Restored the Series to Its Former Glory

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