What We're Reading – April 2019

Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado I've absolutely loved this collection of short stories, which floats between the weird and the queer, passing horror, black comedy and feminism along the way. Doubles and others are especially important: a wife enters her wife’s dream when they are apart; a girlfriend fades until her girlfriend accidentally falls through her in bed. Most noticeably, in the magnificent story ‘Especially Heinous’, detectives Stabler and Benson from Law & Order: SVU meet Abler and Henson, who always get to the crime scene first but do nothing about the beautiful murdered girls whose deaths fuel most episodes of Law & Order: SVU. Machado’s stories are direct, fast-paced, and funny, yet there’s always a slow-moving malevolence to them, a hidden seriousness, a careful confusion, and a sense of meaning that’s just out of reach for the characters. I can’t wait for her second book – a memoir – to be published later this year. Swithun Cooper, Research and Information Manager   Ordinary People, by Diana Evans Just shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. Ordinary People is the story of two couples in the second flush of marriage, wondering about where their lives together are going and what compromises they’ll have to make along the way. It’s also a love-letter to London, and to the music of John Legend. I’m enjoying Diana Evans’ lyrical writing style and in depth exploration of her characters inner lives, their frustrations and complex... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-04-11 08:49:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "What We're Reading – April 2019"


‘Beyond This Harbor,’ a Memoir by Rose Styron, Has Poetry, Crusades and Glittering Names

The poet and activist Rose Styron, 95, had to be talked into writing about herself and the many luminaries she has known. “I don’t like looking backward,” she said. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-13 21:08:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Eat, pray, pander’: mixed reactions after Elizabeth Gilbert pulls Russia-set novel

Author’s decision to remove The Snow Forest from publication because of Russia-Ukraine war sparks intense debateMixed reactions have met the decision by the US novelist Elizabeth Gilbert to withdraw her forthcoming novel The Snow Forest from publication after receiving criticism for its Russian... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-13 13:48:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: June 13, 2023

While visiting Italy’s vanishing towns, Dominic Smith muses on abandonment both physical and emotional. | Lit Hub Memoir 26 new books out today for your summer reading glow-up. | The Hub “When we write ‘I’ in the personal essay it is a philosophical act as much as it is a creative one.” Sarah... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-13 10:30:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Beyond This Harbor,’ a Memoir by Rose Styron, Has Poetry, Crusades and Glittering Names

The poet and activist Rose Styron, 95, had to be talked into writing about herself and the many luminaries she has known. “I don’t like looking backward,” she said. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-12 13:39:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos, Deborah Levy’s August Blue, and Frieda Hughes’ George: A Magpie Memoir all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.” * Fiction 1. Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck (New Directions) 10 Rave • 3... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-09 08:53:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


See the cover for Leslie Jamison’s forthcoming memoir, Splinters.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Splinters, the first memoir from Leslie Jamison, the bestselling author of The Recovering and The Empathy Exams, coming from Little, Brown early next year. Here’s a bit about the book from the publisher: Leslie Jamison has become one of our most... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-07 14:00:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Capitalists Built the Stage and We’re All Performing Health

In a cultural milieu that is increasingly recognizing the value of narratives that describe the experience of chronic pain and illness, Emily Wells’ memoir is a unique contribution. In some ways, A Matter of Appearance is not a memoir at all, though that’s where you’ll find it shelved in... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-06-06 11:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Pageboy: A Memoir,’ by Elliot Page

In the “brutally honest” memoir “Pageboy,” the actor recounts the fears and obstacles to gender transition, and the hard-won happiness that’s followed. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-06 09:00:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


It’s Okay to Have a Love/Hate Relationship With Your Writing

One of my moments of greatest relief as a writer—equal, perhaps, to the swell and crest of learning that my first novel would be published—was when, decades ago, my Intro to Creative Writing professor assigned Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” and I arrived at this passage: “Very few... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-06 08:53:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this


With ‘And Then He Sang a Lullaby,’ a Young Nigerian Novelist Commits to ‘Queer Resistance’

With a first novel that chronicles a love affair between two young men, 23-year-old Ani Kayode Somtochukwu asserts a commitment to “queer resistance.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-05 16:02:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Caster Semenya to publish ‘unflinching’ memoir with Stormzy’s #Merky Books

In The Race to Be Myself, the Olympian athlete will detail her battle for permission to compete as a woman with hyperandrogenismStormzy’s #Merky Books is to publish Olympian Caster Semenya’s memoir this year.South African athlete Semenya, whose book is titled The Race to Be Myself, was just 18... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-02 12:52:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Luis Alberto Urrea Writes Like He’s a Mexican Faulkner

For 17 books, Luis Alberto Urrea has highlighted the joys and sorrows of life along the U.S.-Mexican border, a territory which moves with its peoples, no matter the walls we build on the land and in our hearts. Through his memoir Nobody’s Son, novels like The House of Broken Angels, his essay... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-05-31 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


At the center of L.A.'s transformation: a man named Zev. His memoir is essential history

"Zev's Los Angeles," a memoir by former L.A. County supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, covers an era when L.A. transformed radically — and does it really well. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-29 13:00:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this


William Boyd on his friend Martin Amis: ‘He was ferociously intelligent – and very funny’

He saw the world’s cruel absurdities through a comic lens, writes Boyd, who recalls his very first meeting with Amis – and explains why his unmistakable voice will never be forgotten• John Self on Amis: ‘He stamped his style over a generation’• Geoff Dyer on Amis: ‘Mick Jagger in literary... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 07:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Damn, that fool can write’: how Martin Amis made everyone up their game

He exploded into the tweedy world of literature, a young, pouting and outrageously brash crusader for prose. Our writer remembers her encounters with the novelist, whose smarts and chutzpah confounded his peers‘You’ll be reading me every now and then at least until about 2080, weather... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 05:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Martin Amis, acclaimed British novelist and London scenester of '80s and '90s, dies at 73

Martin Amis, best known for a scathing, dazzling trilogy of novels on money-saturated '80s London and the memoir "Experience," died Friday at 73. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-20 20:05:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Martin Amis, era-defining British novelist, dies aged 73

The celebrated author of Money and London Fields, whose works defined the 80s and 90s literary scene, died of oesophageal cancer on Friday at his home in FloridaMartin Amis, the influential author of era-defining novels including Money and London Fields, and the memoir Experience, has died at... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 18:53:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of May 22, 2023

Park Row bets on a debut novel about love and death, actor Ione Skye sells a memoir to Gallery, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Easily Slip Into Another World,’ by Henry Threadgill

Henry Threadgill’s memoir unfolds from his maddening wartime experience to his boundary-pushing musical career. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-05-19 02:17:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Easily Slip Into Another World,’ by Henry Threadgill

Henry Threadgill’s memoir unfolds from his maddening wartime experience to his boundary-pushing musical career. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-05-15 09:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this