The Kingdom Within
In a new collection, Anthony Doerr lovingly explores the topography of the natural world and the shifting interior landscapes of memory.
Rumpus Original
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Taking a Bite of the Digital Madeleine
Near the end of my first date with Mary, the woman who would become my wife and mother to my son, I asked her if she would mind going out…
Ted Wilson Reviews the World #46
THE NAME LARRY ★★★★★ (1 out of 5) Hello, and welcome to my week-by-week review of everything in the world. Today I am reviewing the name Larry.
The Shaking Woman
Siri Hustvedt’s memoir is a sprawling exploration of memory and the ways trauma manifests in physical illness—less Mary Karr, more Oliver Sacks.
THE BLURB #18: The Long Haul
Though I have doubted my talent, I’ve never doubted my conviction that this was the path I had to be on. Writing is like my Siamese twin: freakish, alive, weighty, uncanny. Were we to be separated, I doubt that I could survive it.
Better She Had Slapped Me
Tongue contains none of the typical tricks, irony, or obsessive self-absorption of many recent books. Each poem is self-contained, yet are all of a piece.
Return of the Woodster: The Rumpus Interview With Gary Shteyngart
When he’s not documenting his irreversible addiction to food porn or commiserating with the literary illuminati, Gary Shteyngart writes books. OK, he writes some of the funniest books I have…
DEAR SUGAR, The Rumpus Advice Column #45: Thwack, Thwack, Thwack
Give him a peek at whatever would make you slam the door shut if he walked in and caught you in front of the mirror.
Moving Pictures
A husband-and-wife team of graphic novelists move from superhero tales to a stark, quiet story about art and the Holocaust.
Modern Reader #4: Without Style
I often wonder if reviews can be great. Can a book (or an essay) that is essentially “about” another book compare to an original work?
Brace Yourself
Jennifer Richter’s poems invite us to understand that each of us is a threshold—something pain passes through.