An Object of Beauty – Steve Martin
“The strength of Martin’s book is its perceptive, sharp-witted, and at times deeply dark observation of the for-profit side of the New York art world. It’s clear that this was what Martin was really setting out to accomplish, but what is murkier is how he feels about it.”
You Know When The Men Are Gone – Siobhan Fallon
“With a deft feel for characterization and pacing, Fallon’s tales carve out a subtle lesson on the psychological impacts of war, even — or especially — as experienced from halfway around the world.”
“Baxter’s terminally displaced protagonists explore, with an unabashed seriousness — one at turns childlike and insane — our desire for love.”
“Inio Asano’s Solanin doesn’t break the mold, but it offers something that not a lot of adulthood-sucks stories do: an earnest expression of what it feels like to be an aimless twentysomething, told with a rare maturity and self-awareness.”
Abstract Comics – ed. Andrei Molotiu
“Abstraction of form is a given in comics. Clouds are thoughts, sticks are people, and capes are cool.”
“As a novel it makes concrete the difficulties and joys of reading, of telling stories, and of being told.”
“The humor and generosity of the book are its strength, if only because at its core is a sense of great loss.”
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self – Danielle Evans
“Many of the stories in Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self hinge on the difference between the people or experiences we think will save us and the total damnation we feel upon pursuing them.”
The Private Lives of Trees – Alejandro Zambra
“For all his melancholy, Julián is a fragile and brilliant creation, one whose own laws for living mirror the strictures of the novel.”
“At one time or another, Heribert and Humbert may be in the same bed, with the same woman, having the same dream.”