AltWeeklies Wire
Come to Look for Americanew
Although Oh, Play That Thing flows along nicely, it lacks the urgency of its predecessor and at times comes close to unraveling.
Boston Phoenix |
Clea Simon |
11-05-2004 |
Fiction
Westward, Oh...new
The tension in Mark Spragg's latest novel, slated for a forthcoming Robert Redford film, is between Spragg's wonderful prose and predictable story.
Missoula Independent |
Azita Osanloo |
11-04-2004 |
Fiction
Alabama Dreamin'new
Hoffman gives an "Alabama Twist" to the Kleinmans—a compelling drama about a classic Southern family, except that they're Jewish.
Jackson Free Press |
Lynette Hanson |
10-29-2004 |
Fiction
His Velocity: Keeping Up With Dave Eggersnew
While Heartbreaking Work fried Eggers' grief over his parents' death in a vat of irony -- a necessary tic, no doubt, in de-sanctifying the memoir -- these stories do not have their guards up. They are raw, unfiltered and have the quivering texture of lived experience.
Missoula Independent |
John Freeman |
10-29-2004 |
Fiction
Love and Liesnew
Livesey creates characters who quicken a story about the nature of love into a story about the mutability of truth.
Boston Phoenix |
Dana Kletter |
10-28-2004 |
Fiction
Marti and Morenew
Francisco Goldman’s fictional re-creation of 19th-century Central America is more telling in its details than in its larger picture.
Boston Phoenix |
Richard C. Walls |
10-19-2004 |
Fiction
Local Colornew
Barbara Sutton finds an undeniable comedy in our darkest sorrows.
Boston Phoenix |
Nina MacLaughlin |
10-19-2004 |
Fiction
Postmodern Metaphysical Novel Brings Together Fin de Siècle Figuresnew
The characters in this novel come to Africa during a time of colonial retreat to impose their own philosophies on the African jungle's "darkness" (an idea author Norman Lock mercilessly slices and dices with his deconstructive Ginsu).
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Thomas Bell |
10-07-2004 |
Fiction
Busting a Move: Pamela Anderson Conquers Literaturenew
No fragile, tragic, self-destructive Marilyn Monroe clone, Pamela Anderson is a canny businesswoman who knows exactly what a valuable commodity she possesses, and who’s buying.
Missoula Independent |
Nicole Panter |
09-30-2004 |
Fiction
Book Whispers the Ancient Continuities of Faith and Culturenew
For Southern fiction, these are familiar stories, tragic and sublime, with an unusual cast of characters. For Jewish fiction, these are familiar characters in unaccustomed tales.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Thomas Bell |
09-30-2004 |
Fiction
Home Lifenew
Cambridge author Gish Jen’s characters struggle to define themselves in a family united not by blood but by chance — who are you if you’re not your mother’s child?
Boston Phoenix |
Amy Finch |
09-21-2004 |
Fiction
Wonderlandnew
Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum’s lush, mesmerizing sentences pull readers into a circular narrative populated by fantastical characters right out of Alice’s Wonderland.
Boston Phoenix |
Julia Hanna |
09-21-2004 |
Fiction
Target Bushnew
Nicholson Baker's new book addresses Bush hatred with a silver-bullet scenario.
Missoula Independent |
John Freeman |
09-09-2004 |
Fiction
State of the Art: Illustrated Novels on 9/11, Iran and Sarajevonew
Art Spiegelman, who witnessed the World Trade Center attack firsthand, explores that tragedy in his graphic novel, In the Shadow of No Towers. Also reviewed are Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel, Persepolis 2, and Joe Sacco’s The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo.
Boston Phoenix |
Jon Garelick |
09-02-2004 |
Fiction
David Mitchell Gets Off on his Cloudnew
With his third novel, David Mitchell moves up a notch in the British literary hierarchy of the hottest, past Louis de Bernières and Lawrence Norfolk, encroaching on Will Self and Martin Amis.
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Keough |
08-26-2004 |
Fiction
