AltWeeklies Wire
Salman Rushdie Creates an Engrossing East-Meets-West Novelnew
The bridge between these two worlds is the enchantress of the book's title, an Indian princess so beautiful and beguiling, Rushdie keeps her from the reader for more than half of the book--as if we, too, could not bear the full power of her charms.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
07-22-2008 |
Fiction
An Interview with Peter Careynew
The word "happy" does not fit easily into Peter Carey's mouth. Under normal circumstances, it dribbles off his lip on a trickle of sarcasm.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
04-15-2008 |
Fiction
Back in Vietnamnew
Even if you think you're done with Vietnam novels, Tree of Smoke could change your mind -- it belongs on the shelf next to Tim O'Brien, Larry Heinemann and Stephen Wright.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
12-11-2007 |
Fiction
JIm Shepard: Dangerous, Dark Dispatchesnew
Like You'd Understand, Anyway is made up almost entirely of fictional testimonies from situations that quickly disintegrate -- and it's not hard to keep reading out of simple rubbernecking.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
11-13-2007 |
Fiction
Ha Jin's American Dreamsnew
In his mammoth new novel, A Free Life, he deploys the elements of his own powerful journey in an epic tale about a young couple at sea in America in the early '90s.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
11-06-2007 |
Fiction
Anne Enright's 'Buried Memories' is Bleak and Sexualnew
The Irish wake has become such a familiar trope in films and popular culture it takes a fiercely unsentimental novel like Anne Enright's The Gathering, recent winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize, to club the blarney out of it.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
10-30-2007 |
Fiction
Spit Shine: 'Confessions of a Wallstreet Shoeshine Boy'new
A vivid portrait of a world run by those who mostly don't notice the little people, even when they are walking all over them.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
07-31-2007 |
Fiction
Brotherhoodnew
This swift, weird little novel by Martin Amis is his best fiction in years.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
02-06-2007 |
Fiction
Tags: House of Meetings, Martin Amis
