AltWeeklies Wire
Yousef Al-Mohaimeed's Storytelling Transcends Bansnew
Wolves of the Crescent Moon was banned in Saudi Arabia by theocratic thought-cops for casting too many spotlights on societal problems that the authorities insist don't exist. Upon being labeled dangerous and sinful, the book gained a large audience throughout the Arabic-speaking world, and has since been translated into French and English.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Todd Lavoie |
03-05-2008 |
Fiction
Fuck, American-Stylenew
You can tell a lot about a society by its wildest dreams and darkest fantasies. Sex for America's two dozen short stories suggest we are one sick nation.
Philadelphia City Paper |
M.J. Fine |
03-04-2008 |
Fiction
Creepy Not Scarynew
Not quite good enough to be entirely interesting and not quite scary enough to be... well, all that scary, Duma Key is a weird book.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
02-28-2008 |
Fiction
Roberto Bolano Travels from the Grave to the Futurenew
Nazi Literature presents brief bios and bibliographies for 30 imaginary right-wing writers from North and South America.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Stephen Beachy |
02-28-2008 |
Fiction
Gin Phillips Needs to Figure Out What to Say With Her Very Strong Voicenew
For anyone who happens to have read Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, Phillips' debut novel will seem familiar.
Willamette Week |
John Minervini |
02-27-2008 |
Fiction
Crunch Timenew
Name your syndrome in the stories of Neil Smith.
The Memphis Flyer |
Leonard Gill |
02-22-2008 |
Fiction
The Faith of Easy Rawlinsnew
By "people like me," Easy might mean black men in 20th-century America. But, given Easy's dramatic personality change in this story, the proclamation bears rereading.
Shepherd Express |
Eric Beaumont |
02-22-2008 |
Fiction
Love is the Bug in 'My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead'new
Cold hearts rule in this Jeffrey Eugenides collection.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
02-22-2008 |
Fiction
Peter Carey Examines the Democratic National Convention of 1968new
But Carey's book is less about the events of the period than about its immediate consequences; about what happens when rich kids go revolutionary; about those who create tidal changes, and those who, through naivete or weakness, are swept up in them.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
02-21-2008 |
Fiction
Manil Suri Flys Under the Radarnew
Even halfway through The Age of Shiva, you'd swear that his new novel was homespun, unambitious and sentimental. But keep reading; it grows some serious teeth.
Willamette Week |
John Minervini |
02-20-2008 |
Fiction
Go, Dog, Gonew
Beowulf meets Bram Stoker. Or perhaps Homer writes an epic about a lycanthropically-challenged Corleone family. Either way, Toby Barlow's novel-in-verse about urban werewolves is busting genre every which way, and in the very best way.
Sacramento News & Review |
Kel Munger |
02-14-2008 |
Fiction
Yes, It's a Werewolf Booknew
In Toby Barlow's surprising first novel, contemporary Los Angeles is secretly inhabited by packs of men who can, at will, transform themselves into dogs.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
02-14-2008 |
Fiction
To Be, or To Be Autonautsnew
Julio Cortazar and Carol Dunlop parody the travel book and reinvent the road story.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Nicole Gluckstern |
02-13-2008 |
Fiction
Goin' Down to Georgianew
Susan Gregg Gilmore's debut novel keeps the small-town spirit alive.
Nashville Scene |
Claire Suddath |
02-11-2008 |
Fiction
Murder He Wrotenew
Nashville judge pens historical fiction based on true-crime 1913 murder.
Nashville Scene |
Liz Garrigan |
02-11-2008 |
Fiction
