Book Reviews Photo by Aideal Hwa / Unsplash If reading Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg’s Robot (Penguin Classics, 2021), translated by Tomasz Mirkowicz, makes you think about Stanislaw Lem’s work, you’re not alone. Indeed, both Robot and Lem’s His Master’s Voice (published in Polish just a few years apart) take up the fascinating but insoluble problem of whether or not we’re alone in the universe. One might even call Robot surrealist science fiction and liken it to Kafka’s work, or even Lem’s Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, since the main character spends most of his time wandering around the halls of an underground shelter, unsure of his own identity and his place in the community that has formed following an apocalyptic event on the surface. His identity confusion derives from his “birth” on an assembly line under a kind of bell jar. Given instructions by a mysterious Mechanism to study the people living in the shelter, the protagonist proceeds as if he is a living machine given a modicum of free will (as explained by the Mechanism). Much of the novel focuses on the protagonist figuring out why those around him are living underground and why many of them believe that he is a physicist named Poreyra. Encountering strange “statues” that weigh several tons in one of the shelter’s rooms, he eventually moves through a mirror there into a replica of the stricken city, where time moves at a fraction of the speed experienced in the shelter.... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2021-11-10 20:14:00 UTC ]
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In our series “Can Writing Be Taught?” we partner with Catapult to ask their course instructors all our burning questions about the process of teaching writing. This month we’re featuring Cinelle Barnes, author of Monsoon Mansion: A Memoir and Malaya: Essays on Freedom. Barnes is a regular... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-06-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A children’s book subscription company says its sales have surged after actor and political activist Laurence Fox berated it online. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-08 08:15:22 UTC ]
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Daniel Barbarisi’s book tracks a wild quest for loot buried by an eccentric millionaire in the mountains near Santa Fe. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-05-21 08:00:00 UTC ]
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The fledgling full-length fiction imprint of M.J. Rose and friends' Evil Eye Concepts is spreading its wings, with social media word-of-mouth driving remarkably strong sales for a new fantasy series by Jennifer L. Armenstrout. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Thirty-year-old Bronx-born Adam Silvera is one of the leading figures in Young Adult fiction, focusing as he does on gay-themed stories. His first book More Happy Than Not was published in 2015 by Soho Teen and his second, History is All You Left Me, also became a big success. But it’s his tale... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-30 18:33:33 UTC ]
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Rachel Hollis, the best-selling author and motivational speaker, built a blockbuster business sharing her “authentic” self. Then things got a little too real. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-04-29 12:17:18 UTC ]
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We've rounded up a list of history book subscription boxes and services so that you can find the perfect box that will help you dive into the past. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-04-29 10:35:00 UTC ]
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"Second Place," Rachel Cusk's first novel after the radical, brilliant "Outline" trilogy, follows a forceful woman who's had enough of difficult men. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-28 14:00:33 UTC ]
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“Second Place” borrows its story line from a 1930s-era memoir about D.H. Lawrence, but its themes are quintessential Cusk. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-04-26 17:28:26 UTC ]
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Sure, books like “The Hill We Climb,” “Poems of Healing” and “How to Heal the World” mean well, but recovery on command is tricky. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-14 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The Folio Society‘s latest publication is a massive edition of all 118 of Philip K. Dick’s short stories, presented in this shockingly bright four-volume set. Their edition of The Complete Short Stories was designed by independent studio La Boca and includes original artworks commissioned from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-06 18:04:35 UTC ]
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Interviews Ellen Adams is a singer-songwriter and prose writer who splits her time between Seattle and Montreal. She has been a Lambda Literary Fellow for nonfiction and a Fulbright Fellow researching politically engaged contemporary art in Thailand.... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-29 13:25:33 UTC ]
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Literary Tributes When we heard the news yesterday that Adam Zagajewski had passed away at the age of seventy-five in Kraków, Poland, we immediately thought not only of his exceptional poetry and essays but also of his exceedingly warm congeniality.... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-22 18:27:58 UTC ]
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Crowdfunding publisher Unbound is to launch 42: The Wildly Improbably Ideas of Douglas Adams, featuring unseen notes, scripts and ideas from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy author. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-22 13:50:59 UTC ]
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Hannah, the protagonist of Amanda Craig's The Golden Rule, is a young single mother with a cruel, abusive ex-husband. A university graduate, she has left her job in advertising because of rampant sexual harassment, and is living a life of grinding, miserable poverty in London, working as a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-05 21:13:52 UTC ]
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Ishiguro’s first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in 2017 is a delicate, haunting story, steeped in sorrow and hope. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-02 16:46:21 UTC ]
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A psychology book by a Nobel Prize-winning author has become a must-read in front offices. It is changing the sport. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-24 12:00:07 UTC ]
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With its witty, ruthless skewering of the Indian middle classes, Rahul Raina’s roistering, whip-smart and deliciously fun Dehli-set crime caper, How to Kidnap the Rich, is the first great state-of-the-subcontinent novel of the 21st century. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-19 10:07:42 UTC ]
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Journalist and author Caitlin Moran is to curate a Mother's Day selection box for book subscription service LoveMyRead. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-14 22:50:45 UTC ]
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The Austin, Tex.–based book box subscription service has pulled in more than $50 million recently. Here's what's happening. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
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