Good Faith book by Jane Smiley reviewed by Tom Isler
Peter Ibbetson
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…
Fiction
Baudolino book by Umberto Eco reviewed by Jennifer Stock
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,…
After book by Francine Prose reviewed by David Lau
They say it’s for your protection. First, it’s the increase in metal detectors. Then, the search and seizures. Random drug tests. Censored books. After the tragedy, you hear that it’s…
Any Human Heart: The Intimate Journals of Logan Mounstuart book by Arthur Phillips reviewed by Christopher Grobe
Those familiar with William Boyd’s past antics cannot help but approach his latest work, Any Human Heart, in a lighthearted manner. After all, this latest novel is inextricably linked to…
The Da Vinci Code book by Dan Brown reviewed by Marissa Ain
The latest art history mystery by Dan Brown is a fast-paced book that is hard to put down. With deliciously short chapters that usually end in cliff-hangers, The Da Vinci…
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book by J.K. Rowling reviewed by Emma Pollack-Pelzner
A few weeks ago I mentioned to a group of friends that I was working on a review of the new Harry Potter book. Most of them scoffed and tittered,…
Samaritan book by Richard Price reviewed by Dan Mattingly
Read the first few pages of Samaritan, Richard Price’s latest epistle from the ghetto, and it’s clear Price wants this book to be a serious thriller. It begins with a…
East of Eden book by John Steinbeck reviewed by Jia Lynn Yang
The buzz on books this summer was all about the non-revelations of a former first lady who stuck by her philandering man and a kid wizard’s new adolescent angst. But…
Cloud of Sparrows book by Takashi Matsuoka reviewed by Su Mon Han
Takashi Matsuoka’s first novel takes us to 1861, six years after the opening of Japan to the West. Genji, the young, charismatic Great Lord of Akaoka, welcomes a small group…
“The Little Friend book by Donna Tartt reviewed by Sonja Ostrow”
Writers, like pop stars, are often one-hit wonders. Assignation to this category seemed to be the fate of Donna Tartt, whose intellectual thriller The Secret History was published in 1992.…