Reviews

Goodbye, Vitamin – Rachel Khong

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The way that Ruth gauges the progression of her father’s illness is food-centric.

Nights as Day, Days as Night – Michel Leiris

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While “a fieldwork of the self” is clearly how much of Leiris’s other work operates, this book resists.

Wait Till You See Me Dance – Deb Olin Unferth

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Don’t tell me it’s going to get better, just tell me that you feel it, too.

Stuart Hall’s Voice – David Scott

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For several generations to come Stuart Hall’s voice will remain a key part of conversations on the left.

Atlantic Hotel – João Gilberto Noll

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ATLANTIC HOTEL’s moral compass is far wonkier than even the most clever parody of a hardboiled detective noir.

Overpour – Jane Wong

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Wong’s speakers are possessed of a transforming power, but the physical realities around them push back, or bind them in ways they can’t escape.

Swallow the Fish – Gabrielle Civil

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Civil upends our assumptions around artistic displays of the body, demands we consider the fact that performance art engages with unruly ghosts and wounded riddles.

Effi Briest – Theodor Fontane

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When the doctor asked me if I had recently experienced a tragedy, I took the English translation out of my backpack, and read to her.

Our Dead World – Liliana Colanzi

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Colanzi’s work moves in the opposite direction of Jung’s in every way; horror is a metaphysical humility.

Black Moses – Alain Mabanckou

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The writing shows such a singular view of the world through an adolescent’s — then young man’s — then madman’s — eyes.