What you’re all dying to know in this the third and final part of my analysis of Literary and Genre Awards is what were the best and worst shortlists for 2015. Of course the subjectivity here is all mine and the mileage...
Read MoreWhat’s It About The unnamed narrator – a woman, a wife, a mother – ruminates in fragments and vignettes about the breaking down of her marriage, the rearing of her child and ghost writing a novel. Should I Read It?...
Read MoreWhat’s It About At the age of eight Ajay Mishra moved, with his family, from India to America. At first the transition to this new land of wealth and opportunity goes smoothly. Unlike India where the family lived frugally,...
Read MoreWhat’s It About 10:04 is Ben Lerner’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Leaving the Atocha Station (I bought a copy of his début back in 2013 when it was nominated for a Believer Magazine Award. Though, like many...
Read More… Family Life by Akhil Sharma. While I have yet to write-up my reviews of three of the eight finalists, I have read all the nominees and Family Life is definitely a deserving winner. It’s a powerful novel about the...
Read MoreWhat’s It About Elf is a brilliant pianist who performs internationally in front of sellout crowds. She has a wonderful marriage with a husband who loves her deeply. And she also desperately wants to die. Yoli is Elf’s...
Read MoreWhat’s It About Short answer: The story of colonial and post colonial Kenya. Long answer: The death of Odidi Oganda, gunned down in the streets of Nairobi, forces his family to face secrets from their past, secrets intertwined...
Read MoreAnd here it is: 10:04 by Ben Lerner (Granta) All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (Faber) Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (Granta) Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (Granta) Family Life by Akhil Sharma (Faber) How to Be Both by...
Read MoreLast year, Kirstyn and I spoke very highly of Claire Messud’s sixth novel, The Woman Upstairs, on the Writer and The Critic podcast. It’s a book that refuses to shy away from the raw, passionate emotions of the lead...
Read MoreThe TL;DR Review For Those Who Haven’t Read The Book What’s The Book About? Faye flies to Greece to give a two-day writing class. Each chapter is made up of the conversations she has on her trip. It’s also a book where...
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