Éric Vuillard: The War of the Poor
The war in Éric Vuillard’s The War of the Poor (2019, tr: Mark Polizzotti , 2021) is not a single point in time but an ongoing campaign fought throughout history.…
Kathryn Scanlan: Kick the Latch
Kathryn Scanlan’s Kick the Latch (2022) is an engaging compression of one woman’s life in the Midwest horse racing circuit. Based on transcribed interviews with the subject, Sonia, Scanlan has…
Chingiz Aïtmatov: Jamilia
When I first read Jamilia (1957, tr: James Riordan, 2007) by the Kyrgyz writer, Chingiz Aïtmatov, I could never square it with the Louis Aragon quote adorning the cover, declaring…
Natalia Ginzburg: The Road to the City
Natalia Ginzburg’s first novel, The Road to the City (1942, tr: Francis Frenaye, 1952) is a coming-of-age of story, cool in its delivery, and hard in its truth. The opening…
Annie Dillard: The Writing Life
Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life (1989) is less an instruction manual for would-be writers and more a reality check. “Why people want to be writers I will never know”, she…
Jon Fosse: A Shining
I was reading a book. It was good. It felt good to be reading. I didn’t know where the story was going. I was just reading. Curiosity had taken hold…
Ricardo Romero: The President’s Room
In an unnamed country, after an ambiguous event, there’s an anonymous narrator living in a nondescript house in an undisclosed neighbourhood. After whatever happened in the past houses no longer…
Edogawa Rampo: Beast in the Shadows
The narrator of Edogawa Rampo’s Beast in the Shadows (1928, tr: Ian Hughes, 2006) suggests there are two categories of detective novelist. While he views himself as the type interested…
Agatha Christie: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Since his appearance over a hundred years ago, Hercule Poirot has become part of the cultural landscape. Agatha Christie wrote thirty-three novels featuring him, as well as several plays and…
Lora Senf: The Clackity
Blight Harbor is the “seventh most haunted town in America (per capita)” and is a place where the paranormal is just normal. You’re as likely to know the name of…