Reviews

Undershore – Kelly Hoffer

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Hoffer’s work . . . has [a] kaleidoscopic quality, zooming in and out from description of a landscape to a consideration of the molecules from which the landscape is built—from describing the way someone’s insides might look outside their body to simple statements that reveal the weight of a love.

The Blue Light­­ – Hussein Barghouthi

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In this autobiographical novel, translated from the Arabic by Palestinian poet Fady Joudah, Hussein Barghouthi searches for a solution to his spiritual desolation.

The Complete Works of Álvaro de Campos – Fernando Pessoa

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Simply being is rarely enough for Campos; he needs to think intensely about being, and feeling, and everything else.

The Book of Desire – Tiruvalluvar

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Meena Kandasamy’s The Book of Desire reframes translation both as intimate practice and as a necessary political project.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Dumplings – John Lorinc

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Compiling an anthology about possibly the most common food in the world practically guarantees an interesting mix of histories and perspectives . . .

Boy Parts – Eliza Clark

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Incendiary . . . an innovative subversion of the male gaze in a dark comedy packaging.

Weak in Comparison to Dreams – James Elkins

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WEAK IN COMPARISON TO DREAMS [may] look like a recovery narrative, but it’s actually a re-cover-up story.

Abyss – Pilar Quintana

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[Quintana] strips away the illusions that parents hold that they can just “cloak” their language or argue behind closed doors. Children see through it. They always have.

Mistaken for an Empire – Christine Imperial

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“Where do you call home?” the world seems to ask . . . Imperial finds herself unable or unwilling to decide.

Tales of Tangier: The Complete Short Stories of Mohamed Choukri

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Even in the stories that project a more lighthearted air . . . there is a looming sense that something is horribly wrong, that the party is over.