Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill My rating: 3 of 5 stars This acclaimed 2014 novel of marriage, motherhood, and adultery is a perfect expression of the fictional and even … Continue reading
Lisa Halliday, Asymmetry
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday My rating: 3 of 5 stars The jacket copy of this fascinating 2018 debut novel—back cover and both flaps—informs us no less than four times that … Continue reading
Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Crossing (1994) is the follow-up to All the Pretty Horses (1992) and the second part of Cormac McCarthy’s … Continue reading
Louise Erdrich, The Plague of Doves
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Plague of Doves was acclaimed by many as Louise Erdrich’s masterpiece when it was published a … Continue reading
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy My rating: 4 of 5 stars All the Pretty Horses is apparently to Cormac McCarthy’s corpus what The Crying of Lot 49 is … Continue reading
Don DeLillo, White Noise
White Noise: Text and Criticism by Don DeLillo My rating: 5 of 5 stars I am interested in the question of whether or not this book holds up. It was … Continue reading
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon My rating: 5 of 5 stars A summary of this classic 1965 short novel’s unsummarizable plot: California housewife Oedipa Maas becomes executor … Continue reading
George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders My rating: 4 of 5 stars In one of the few negative reviews of George Saunders’s well-received and Man Booker-winning first novel, Caleb … Continue reading
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro My rating: 5 of 5 stars Never Let Me Go is a contemporary realist novel about a friendship and eventual love triangle among … Continue reading
David Treuer, The Translation of Dr. Apelles
The Translation of Dr. Apelles by David Treuer My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Translation of Dr. Apelles (2006) interleaves two stories: a semi-fantastical romance between two Indian youths apparently … Continue reading
