AltWeeklies Wire
Lit Review: Helen Humphreys’ 'Coventry'new
For the oft-tread territory of World War II, Helen Humphreys has the wisdom to limit the scope of her novel Coventry to create a more focused and intimate portrait.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Emily Currier |
03-16-2010 |
Fiction
Tags: Coventry, Helen Humphreys
Book Quarterly: J.M. Coetzee, Zadie Smith, Stephen King, Nabokovnew
The discerning critics of Philadelphia City Paper review this season's most notable tomes: Summertime by J.M. Coetzee, Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith, Under the Dome by Stephen King and The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Katherine Hill, K. Ross Hoffman, Justin Bauer, Lauren F. Friedman |
12-08-2009 |
Fiction
Joe Meno Wallows in 'Demons in the Spring'new
But when Meno feels sad, he revels in it: He's made a career out of doing just that with Hairstyles of the Damned, a conversational punk-rock update of J.D. Salinger's most famous, and The Boy Detective Fails, a book that knows it's a book, but doesn't let that get in the way of breaking some hearts.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Jakob Dorof |
09-23-2008 |
Fiction
Tags: Demons in the Spring, Joe Meno
George Pelecanos on His Process, Favorite Authors and Inspirationnew
The Turnaround is a smoldering novel about despair, desperation and hope. His hard-hitting style and vivid characterizations never fail to leave an impression.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Char Vandermeer |
08-05-2008 |
Fiction
Things Come Togethernew
Chinua Achebe's masterpiece is still the centerpiece of contemporary African literature.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Joel Tannenbaum |
03-25-2008 |
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
Nicola Barker Sets a Full Table in 'Darkmans'new
What Barker accomplishes is the sort of comprehensive and wide-ranging novel that towers over the single-note memoirs, genre pieces and pink-cover chick-lit books that so outnumber it.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Justin Bauer |
12-26-2007 |
Fiction
Nersesian Builds on the Post-Apocalyptic Genrenew
He constructs an alternate timeline, with Watergate quashed and the counterculture exiled to a replica New York built in the Nevada desert. His plot is scrambled out of The Odyssey, but it's really only an easel for the cabinet of curiosities his replica city contains.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Justin Bauer |
12-26-2007 |
Fiction
The Key to 'Vibrator' Isn't Scandalnew
The explicitness of the sex and the frankness with which Rei -- the narrator -- expresses her desires and confusions are striking. But it's the skill Mari Akasaka brings to her narration that allows the pain of Rei's existence to be soothed by the journey.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Justin Bauer |
10-30-2007 |
Fiction
'The Exception': Mean Girlsnew
Danish author Christian Jungersen's new novel educates about genocide.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Amy Baily |
09-04-2007 |
Fiction
'A Killer's Kiss': Soft Kissnew
William Lashner begins his seventh Victor Carl novel with his usual bang, but this time around Victor seems a little tuckered out.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Char Vandermeer |
08-28-2007 |
Fiction
For Love or Mummynew
The Professor's Daughter is a French love story about an Egyptologist, his daughter and the mummy who loves her.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Tremble |
05-29-2007 |
Fiction
Dead Airnew
Lost City Radio follows the cleaving of three lives in the wake of civil war in an unnamed South American city.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Tremble |
03-20-2007 |
Fiction
Tags: Daniel Alarcon, Lost City Radio
Split in Twainnew
Jon Clinch's tale of Huck Finn's father is dense, lyrical and mildly archaic.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Justin Bauer |
02-27-2007 |
Fiction
Tags: Finn, Jon Clinch
