The Great American Novel in Miniature
Lurking beneath the dazzling political and pop-culture fireworks of Benjamin Taylor’s second novel, The Book of Getting Even, is a vivid tale of American displacement and discovery that could be…
Reviews
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Maps and Legends
“Do you ever get the feeling like you already know the entire contents of the universe somewhere in your head… and you are just spending your entire life figuring out…
All’s Love in Myth and War
Clouds with legs, balloons filled with flame, and a war against February occupy the world of Shane Jones’s debut novel.
War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery
With echoes of 9/11, the protagonist of Jim Knipfel’s novel flees the ubiquitous surveillance of a not-so-futuristic government.
In Search of Free Union
Free Union is much more than a small Virginia town. It is also the choice involved; the choice to go back to the land, the choice to settle with a…
The Beautiful Nightmares of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666
Prior to launching The Rumpus, during our test phase, we ran this incredible, thorough, and thoughtful review of Roberto Bolano’s 2666 by Michael Berger. Today seemed like a good day…
The Rumpus Original (Supersized) Combo with D.A. Powell
How do you supersize a Rumpus Original Combo? That’s easy—just take a book review and an interview with the author, and add a Rumpus Original Poem to it!
We Are Each Other’s Spiders
Burnt Shadows is the most admirable new novel I have read in a long time, a work of astonishing naturalism, wisdom, and grace.
A Girl Asleep in a Dream of Herself in a Dream
Gothic dreamscapes and hypnotic investigations of the self beguile the reader of Monica Ferrell’s debut collection.