Ha Jin’s new book, The Crazed, addresses a wide range of philosophical, moral, political, and historical issues, while maintaining a tight plot, lyrical style, and convincing, engaging characters. Jin uses…
In her second novel, The Autograph Man, Zadie Smith tells the story of a man infatuated with fame. Alex-Li Tandem is a collector of autographs, the timeless signatures of individuals…
The English writer and literary critic G. K. Chesterton once said, “A child of seven is excited by being told that Tommy opened a door and saw a dragon. But…
You can learn a lot about the gay gene discourse from the title of Robert Alan Brookey’s new book. Specifically, two things deserve note: “invention” as the recurring process by…
In a time of disaster one can always revert to storytelling. At least that’s the tradition that Boccaccio hands down to us, and Umberto Eco, ever mindful of the past,…
An exhibit at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg is called Dvoe, or “Twosome.” It pairs paintings and sculptures to suggest dualities in Russian art: East vs. West, peasant vs.…
Peter Ibbetson