AltWeeklies Wire
'Infidelities' Explores the Struggles of Croatians at Home and Abroadnew
Novakovich's collection of short stories represents a departure from the standard narrative of Eastern Europeans leaving the old country behind. It flows from a more fluid consciousness, able to shift between the horrors, joys and ordinary realities of both worlds.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
05-02-2008 |
Fiction
Willy Vlautin's 'Northline' Really has Its Own Soundtracknew
The slow-strummed ballads that accompany Northline provide a lush companion to Vlautin's starkly descriptive prose, and wisely, they're wordless, so you can listen and read at the same time.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
05-01-2008 |
Fiction
Louise Erdrich Returns with a Crazy Quilt of a Novelnew
The Plague of Doves stitches together several of her recent short stories, most of them previously published in The New Yorker. The remarkable thing is how seamlessly the final product fits together.
Willamette Week |
Matt Buckingham |
05-01-2008 |
Fiction
Keith Gessen Tackles Familiar Turf in 'All the Sad Young Literary Men'new
Gessen's debut follows three Harvard graduates as they struggle with too much education and not enough purpose in literary Manhattan.
Willamette Week |
John Minervini |
05-01-2008 |
Fiction
'Girls in Trucks' Tracks a Former Debutante's Adjustment to Adult Life in New Yorknew
Katie Crouch's debut novel has all the believable bad decisions, the unflinching sex, the spunk, and polish of an authentic Gen-X memoir, but it's fiction.
East Bay Express |
John Minervini |
05-01-2008 |
Fiction
'The Ten Year Nap' Explores the 'Opt-Out Revolution'new
This is a novel of manners as much as a literary take on a sociological dilemma, and as a portrait of the modern heterosexual urban bourgeoisie, much of it is wickedly bang-on.
East Bay Express |
Jolisa Gracewood |
05-01-2008 |
Fiction
A Resort Town Holds Out Hope in Kevin Henkes' New Novelnew
If topics like divorce and death sound heavy, Henkes' new young-adult novel, Bird Lake Moon, wears them surprisingly gently.
James Collins, the New Jane Austennew
Beginner's Greek is a romantic comedy, and as such it rewards virtue and punishes evil, ultimately smiling on Peter and providing this transcendent good guy with a tidy resolution that is satisfying, if not entirely surprising.
Nashville Scene |
Liz Garrigan |
04-28-2008 |
Fiction
Truly a Pleasurenew
From the first page of “Earthly Pleasures,” the new novel from Karen Neches, readers will find the opportunity to laugh, cry, and go on an all out ride through a wonderful narrative.
A former columnist for the Augusta Chronicle, a co-author of one novel, and the sole voice of the Bottom Dollar Girl series, Karen Neches is a voice readers with an ear for intricate plots have to hear. Otherwise known as Karin Gillespie, this founder of the virtual tour The Girlfriend Circuit who travels the Southeast with the Dixie Divas provides an animated unconventional love story in her latest composition.
Metro Spirit |
Jason Sumerau |
04-27-2008 |
Fiction
Tags: fiction, Education, Life, The Beatles, God, Earthly Pleasures, fun, love, chick lit, chick-lit, angel, heaven, Karen Gillespie, Karen Neches, life lessons, Fiction Reviews
Finding Meaning in the Oldest Storynew
It’s a terrible struggle, becoming human, but this is exactly what Actors Scene Unseen attempts in a rejuvenation of one of the world’s oldest stories in “Gilgamesh: A Verse Play.”
Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa and former Executive Director of Inverse Theater Chad Garcia reinvent the ageless epic in an audio experience. The work of the two reminds contemporary listeners of the pains necessary in the search for meaning between man and the supernatural.
Metro Spirit |
Jason Sumerau |
04-27-2008 |
Fiction
Tags: fiction, Poetry, Drama, Pulitzer Prize, theater, book, epic, stage, Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh: A Verse Play, meter, play, rhyme, Theatre, Yusef Komunyakaa, Fiction Reviews
Young Statesman Guiding Today’s Youthnew
With wonderful illustrations and poignant storytelling, the acclaimed Young Patriots Series offers a fascinating look at one of the more interesting Founding Fathers of the United States of America. An architect of the Constitution, the first Secretary of the Treasury, and a participant in a legendary political duel, Alexander Hamilton is a captivating historical figure.
Metro Spirit |
Jason Sumerau |
04-27-2008 |
Fiction
Marc Acito's Strong Satirenew
The sequel to Acito's 2004 coming-of-gay comedy How I Paid for College finds its self-obsessed protagonist, Edward Zanni, kicked out of Juilliard, working as a "party motivator" at ritzy bar mitzvahs and moonlighting as a corporate spy for a jaw-droppingly sexy stockbroker of questionable ethics.
Willamette Week |
Ben Waterhouse |
04-23-2008 |
Fiction
'A Person of Interest' is Hypnotically Absorbingnew
While Susan Choi's new novel is clearly, in part, a fictionalized account of the Theodore Kaczynski bombings, the plot's trajectory also resonates in our post-9/11 world.
The Texas Observer |
Azita Osanloo |
04-23-2008 |
Fiction
An Interview with Peter Careynew
The word "happy" does not fit easily into Peter Carey's mouth. Under normal circumstances, it dribbles off his lip on a trickle of sarcasm.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
04-15-2008 |
Fiction
Pulitzer Prize Winner Michael Chabon Releases a Rogue's Talenew
The swashbuckling adventure first appeared in serial form in the New York Times Magazine last year, but now this gloriously bound version, features superbly detailed black-and-white pen drawings by comic book artist Gary Gianni.
NOW Magazine |
Joseph Wilson |
04-11-2008 |
Fiction
