RaveBook PageSprinkled with Yiddishims, the novel is replete with gangsters, grifters, cops and gamblers, who all agree on one thing: These are strange times to be a Jew ... Chabon, among the most acclaimed American authors of his generation, has by coincidence or design penned what could be considered a companion to Roth\'s book. But instead of following Roth into social commentary, Chabon has created an original, topnotch murder mystery. That\'s not to say there aren\'t moments of great revelation in Chabon\'s writing.
Anne Griffin
PositiveBookPage\"... satisfying ... Griffin... is an exciting new voice in Irish literature. Her versatility makes When All Is Said a pleasure to read. Maurice’s story is told with wry humor and pathos that avoids sentimentality, giving us a clear-eyed look at a man fumbling with a question we all must eventually face: What do you do with your life when all you have left are memories and regrets?\
Keith Gessen
PositiveBookPageLike his protagonist, [Gessen] moved to the United States from Russia as a child. His first novel in 10 years is a compassionate, soulful read that avoids dourness by being surprisingly funny. [A Terrible Country] shows us that while you certainly can go home again, it often turns out to be a lousy idea.
Mary Morris
PositiveBookPageIn Gateway to the Moon, award-winning novelist Mary Morris draws a map straight from the terror of the Spanish Inquisition to stagnant lives in a dirt-poor New Mexico village, half a millennium later ... Morris writes with a relaxed eloquence, shifting easily through characters. Gateway to the Moon is an entertaining, thoughtful read that raises a relevant question: Appearances aside, just how different are we?
Kevin Powers
PositiveBookPage...a lacerating and elegiac—if at times uneven—novel about the lasting effects of human bondage ... While the story grows confusing at times...the author’s writing possesses the same intimate, lyrical power as his haunting debut ... This is a fine, relevant novel from a notable author.
Chris Offutt
PositiveBookPage\"While Country Dark, a tale of family loyalty and violence in the hills of Kentucky, does not measure up to past efforts, it’s still a slick bit of backwoods devilry ... Tense and atmospheric, Country Dark is firmly rooted in time and place, with the verisimilitude expected from a writer who has made the shadowy hills of Kentucky his own.\
Sigrid Nunez
RaveBookPageBrilliant but informal, sad yet laugh-out-loud funny, The Friend is a digressive bumblebee of a novel that alights on aging, death, the waning power of literature and the strength of friendship. It’s a book of fragments that questions what it means to be human ... Nunez’s seventh novel is small yet rich. Replete with limpid asides on writing, writers and what it means to be a person of words in an increasingly emoji world, The Friend will appeal in particular to fans of postmodern authors such as David Markson. Talented as she is, Nunez should be better known among readers. If you’re already a fan, this beautiful, spare work will not disappoint. If you aren’t, this relevant novel is the perfect introduction.
