AltWeeklies Wire
Wonderlandnew
Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum’s lush, mesmerizing sentences pull readers into a circular narrative populated by fantastical characters right out of Alice’s Wonderland.
Boston Phoenix |
Julia Hanna |
09-21-2004 |
Fiction
Target Bushnew
Nicholson Baker's new book addresses Bush hatred with a silver-bullet scenario.
Missoula Independent |
John Freeman |
09-09-2004 |
Fiction
State of the Art: Illustrated Novels on 9/11, Iran and Sarajevonew
Art Spiegelman, who witnessed the World Trade Center attack firsthand, explores that tragedy in his graphic novel, In the Shadow of No Towers. Also reviewed are Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel, Persepolis 2, and Joe Sacco’s The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo.
Boston Phoenix |
Jon Garelick |
09-02-2004 |
Fiction
David Mitchell Gets Off on his Cloudnew
With his third novel, David Mitchell moves up a notch in the British literary hierarchy of the hottest, past Louis de Bernières and Lawrence Norfolk, encroaching on Will Self and Martin Amis.
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Keough |
08-26-2004 |
Fiction
My Nipples Loved Fruitnew
Call me an anthrocentrist (my nipples often do, though they lisp the "tr"), but I read the novel more as the story of an obese 13-year-old Canadian boy whose considerable social burdens have been increased by the budding of his nipples into cherry-sized stigmata.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Thomas Bell |
08-26-2004 |
Fiction
McSweeney's Anthology Reveals the Mind of the Comic Book Guynew
The comic book anthology McSweeney's Quarterly Concern #13 marks the latest milestone in the medium's drawn-out coming of age. If American comics saw their infancy with newspaper strips in the early 20th century, and endured an endless adolescence with superhero titles, the art form now emerges ready for adulthood.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
08-26-2004 |
Fiction
Canadian Writer Revitalizes the Westernnew
This artfully written novel follows the Gaunt family from Victorian England to Montana and beyond into Canada's Northwest Territories.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Erik Spanberg |
08-07-2004 |
Fiction
Songwriter Applies His Breathtaking Prose to Fiction
This deftly written novel, part of a series of books by musicians, is an account of a confused, Smiths-loving teenager.
Monday Magazine |
Bill Stuart |
08-07-2004 |
Fiction
Serious Beach Books Could Ruin Your Tilapia Dinnernew
Marine researcher Richard Ellis inks out humanity's remarkably efficient depletion of marine life, be it plant, fish, or mammal. Ellis's book on the ocean is reviewed along with Russ Rymer's "American Beach," James Jones' "From Here to Eternity," Lisa Stocker's "P-Town Summer" and Charles Sprawson's "Haunts of the Black Masseur."
Baltimore City Paper |
Lee Gardner |
08-07-2004 |
Fiction
Both History and Song Captured in Transcendent Debut Novelnew
Set in the Appalachians of North Carolina during the time immediately before and after the Civil War, Adams' novel is filled with the songs of early Scotch-Irish settlers -- so filled that it's almost as if the book itself were a mountain ballad shaped into a more staid fictional form.
Nashville Scene |
Lacey Galbraith |
08-07-2004 |
Fiction
Novel of Alaskan Wilderness Stunningly Originalnew
Here is a first novel of such pristine talent and originality, it's unlikely you'll find its match anytime soon.
The Georgia Straight |
John Burns |
07-30-2004 |
Fiction
Russian Mystery Novelist Inherits Agatha Christie's Mantlenew
In homage to the locked-room mysteries of Agatha Christie, Akunin sends Fandorin to sea aboard the luxury passenger liner Leviathan (Southampton to Cairo) in the company of a murderer and thief, but which of his nine fellow passengers detained in the Windsor salon could it be?
The Georgia Straight |
John Burns |
07-30-2004 |
Fiction
Sci-Fi Author/Marine Biologist Nears End of Undersea Trilogynew
ßehemoth: ß-Max is perhaps the oddest piece of science fiction I've ever read.
The Georgia Straight |
John Burns |
07-30-2004 |
Fiction
Teenager Finds Kindness in Her Quirky Mennonite Community
For Miriam Toew's narrator, Nomi, life in a small town is a matter of being an insider or an outsider -- and figuring out which she is presents the main challenge in this novel.
Monday Magazine |
Andrew Murray |
07-22-2004 |
Fiction
Gay Protagonist Has Epiphanies and Talking Nipples
Writer Brian Francis makes the life of a queer teenager compelling through simple writing and effective characterization.
Monday Magazine |
Bill Stuart |
07-06-2004 |
Fiction
