Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo
Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed My rating: 4 of 5 stars Thomas Pynchon’s freewheeling narrator of Gravity’s Rainbow (1973) tells us, “Well, and keep in mind where those Masonic Mysteries came … Continue reading
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Hamlet by William Shakespeare My rating: 5 of 5 stars Why is this bizarre, disorderly, long, and poorly transmitted tragedy from the turn of the seventeenth century the central work … Continue reading
Toni Morrison, Paradise
Paradise by Toni Morrison My rating: 5 of 5 stars Paradise was not well received upon its publication in 1997—influential critics like Michiko Kakutani, James Wood, and Zoë Heller disparaged … Continue reading
Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels My rating: 4 of 5 stars In this 1979 classic of popular non-fiction, religious scholar Elaine Pagels explains to a broad audience the theological … Continue reading
Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson My rating: 3 of 5 stars I found Marilynne Robinson’s second novel, Gilead (2004), to be literally stunning. That is, every time I picked it up … Continue reading
Albert Camus, The Rebel
The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt by Albert Camus My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Rebel is Albert Camus’s answer, written in 1951, to the painful question … Continue reading
C. G. Jung, Answer to Job
Answer to Job by C.G. Jung My rating: 3 of 5 stars The back cover advertises Answer to Job as “one of Jung’s most controversial works.” He wrote it toward … Continue reading
William Shakespeare, King Lear
King Lear by William Shakespeare My rating: 5 of 5 stars What is King Lear about? “[T]he fierce dispute, / Betwixt damnation and impassion’d clay,” wrote Keats, but both terms … Continue reading
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley My rating: 2 of 5 stars Don’t ask me why I didn’t read Brave New World when I was sixteen the way everybody else … Continue reading
William Faulkner, Light in August
Light in August by William Faulkner My rating: 5 of 5 stars Light in August, published in 1932, is Faulkner’s seventh novel and generally considered one of the major works … Continue reading
