Smith is destined to become to Northwest London what Philip Roth is to Newark, or even what James Joyce is to Dublin.
Battleborn – Claire Vaye Watkins
The stories drift around in time and history, homing in on characters who are subtly — or not so subtly — processing violence, death, or detachment.
In vintage Kraus (and feminist) style, there is no possible separation of love and sex from politics and philosophy.
Walking the Clouds – Grace L. Dillon
The enduring message from WALKING THE CLOUDS is not just one of Indian survival but the ability for the Indian to make their home anywhere….even in a genre that as Dillon says arose in a context “profoundly intertwined with colonial ideology.”
It achieves in a sentence what entire horror films and novels and stories strive to do.
Mountains of the Moon – I. J. Kay
I had moments while reading when I felt the main character had reached out from the page, grabbed me by the throat, and smacked my head against the binding until my nose started bleeding and I gave her my full attention.
The Life of an Unknown Man – Andreï Makine
If Makine has built a romantic aura around his own persona, with his character Shutov he mocks that romanticism.
My First Suicide – Jerzy Pilch
It’s hard not to feel drawn into a unity with Pilch’s protagonist, even if you’ve never felt compelled to imagine unbuttoning Anna Karenina’s corset.
Prehistoric Times – Eric Chevillard
What is fifty thousand years, really, in the context of the universe?
Prehistoric Times – Eric Chevillard
The vernacular is ostentatious in the best way possible, and the occasional geeky archeologist terminology is believable coming from the mouth of the narrator, who can be imagined as a sort of David Schwimmer character during his Friends-era popularity.