Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’d already managed to overcommit myself when Alex Hyde’s Exhibition appeared on NetGalley. It ticked so many boxes for me, I had to have it. Spanning several decades, it follows the musings of photographer Rabble Stone on her relationship with the unnamed artist whose work is about to be the subject of a major retrospective. […]
Exhibition by Alex Hyde: ’Who is the artist, and who is the muse?’ Read More »
I reviewed Ben Lerner’s novella 10:04 here over a decade ago, commenting on its many-layered interconnections, impossible to encapsulate in a short post. Since then, I’ve read Leaving the Atocha Station which brought him a great deal of acclaim although, for me, it didn’t match 10.04. Divided into three parts, Transcription is another brief novel
Transcription by Ben Lerner: A characteristically discursive novella Read More »
This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy in as many hands as I could. I have a rather tattered proof of Dreamland which I’m pretty sure was given to me by a
Blasts from the Past: Dreamland by Kevin Baker (1999) Read More »
Despite her extensive back catalogue which includes five works of fiction, I’d never read anything by Gish Jen. Her new, difficult-to-categorise book, Bad Bad Girl, is the story of her mother’s life in which Jen imagines conversations, seeking answers to questions her mother would never give. It’s a novelisation, leaning very much towards memoir but,
Bad Bad Girl by Gish Jen: A novel with some truth in it Read More »
It’s nine years since I reviewed Nicola Barker’s The Cauliflower® describing it as a Marmite novel – love it or hate it for those not acquainted with the expression. Her new one, TonyInterruptor, is more conventional although not a novel that lends itself to an easy synopsis, tossing around ideas between its small cast of
TonyInterruptor by Nicola Barker: ‘Is this honest? Are we all being honest here?’ Read More »
This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy into as many hands as I could. Water Music is the first T. C. Boyle novel I read back when he was T Coraghessan Boyle.
Blasts from the Past: Water Music by T. C. Boyle (1981) Read More »
Liadan Ní Chuinn’s debut collection comes garlanded with praise from a fistful of my favourite Irish writers including Wendy Erskine, Louise Kennedy and Lucy Caldwell, all heralding the arrival of a brilliant new talent. Every One Still Here comprises six stories, several quite brief, bookended by two lengthier pieces, all more than worthy of a
Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn: A hard legacy Read More »
When I’m feeling particularly depressed about the state of the world, I remind myself that equal marriage has been enshrined in law for over a decade here in the UK and has been legalised in many other countries. Set in a small Welsh village in the late 1980s, not so very long ago, Anthony Shapland’s
A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland: A love story Read More »
It’s been well over three years since The Mission House was published, perhaps an indication of the care and attention paid in writing Carys Davies’ latest brief, vivid novella. Clear is set in 1843 against the backdrop of two massive upheavals in Scottish history: the continuing, brutal clearance of its estates by voraciously greedy landlords
Clear by Carys Davies: A love story Read More »
The Lodgers is acclaimed poet Holly Pester’s first novel. I’m partial to novels by poets and the premise of this one sounded interesting: a woman returns to her hometown, subletting an apartment overlooking her mother’s house, imagining the life of the lodger who’s taken over her room in the last house she lived. Sounds simple
The Lodgers by Holly Pester: Living on the margins Read More »
This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy in as many hands as I could. Those of us who witnessed the scenes of the Berlin Wall being torn down in 1989, albeit on
Blasts from the Past: Stasiland by Anna Funder (2004) Read More »