Reviews
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A Haunted Reality: Jac Jemc’s The Grip of It
The narration isn’t dispassionate, but there’s a distance.
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With Great Devotion: Julie Marie Wade’s Same-Sexy Marriage
Ultimately, this is a story in which redemption is not a possibility.
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A Façade of a Woman: R.O. Kwon’s The Incendiaries
It is incredible to crack open an American novel and wince upon seeing parts of yourself reflected back so strikingly.
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Bearing Witness: Because: A Lyric Memoir by Joshua Mensch
Because is a call for more stories with specifics so well-rendered.
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Our Lady of Perpetual Movement: Analicia Sotelo’s Virgin
These speaker(s) don’t need to offer us explanation.
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A Megaphone for a Generation: Coming of Age at the End of Nature
[T]his generation is no longer sure that the future will be better than the past.
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Blending Out: Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Despite its title, Oceanic is much more than a love letter to the ocean.
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Struggling toward Truth: Porochista Khakpour’s Sick
Khakpour gathers courage, again and again, as she reaches into the most painful parts of her life, excavates them, and holds them up to the light.
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Taking Control and Staking a Claim: Erin Adair-Hodges’s Let’s All Die Happy
This is lovely writing, alive, thoroughly thought, and thoroughly felt.
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Worth the Chuckles and Tears: Calypso by David Sedaris
Part of the magic of David Sedaris’s work stems from the simple truth that you really can’t laugh heartily until you’re hurting deeply.
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Three Collections in Two Volumes by August Kleinzahler
Be stunned by Kleinzahler’s poetry in the far ports of your body.
