Reviews

Confusion – Stefan Zweig

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CONFUSION will resonate with anyone who has felt the tension between desire and knowledge that sits at the heart of pedagogical relationships.

A Sense of Direction – Gideon Lewis-Kraus

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The fundamental flaw is the concept: the idea that three pilgrimages is better than one; that three pilgrimages equals three times the enlightenment for the writer and three times the payoff for readers.

The Chemistry of Tears – Peter Carey

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Abundant with sumptuously detailed antiquities — Islamic water clocks, ancient Chinese timepieces, and of course the impossible mechanical duck.

With the Animals – Noëlle Revaz

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Revaz makes it possible to feel a certain empathy for Paul, a pity for how small he has made his world and how tightly he needs to control it.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Ben Fountain

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The hypocrisy that’s so prevalent you almost only notice it when it’s absent.

I Am an Executioner: Love Stories – Rajesh Parameswaran

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No creature, human or animal or alien, escapes the terrible consequences of falling in love.

Metawritings: Notes Toward a Theory of Nonfiction – Jill Talbot

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It would be no surprise if, solely based on the book’s title, many would-be readers rolled their eyes uncontrollably.

Sound – T. M. Wolf

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Nostalgia is a fetish; in SOUND it’s a compulsion, a habit to be tamed.

The Listeners – Leni Zumas

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The mélange of information is surprisingly coherent and unflaggingly intense.

Panopticon – Steve McCaffery

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PANOPTICON is ultimately a profoundly optimistic work, a leap of faith that chooses to revel in the opacity of language because — well, just because.