RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewSimon Garfield offers a delightful curated sampling of what seekers before and after Diderot have tried to actualize ... Playful ... Garfield writes with characteristic humor ... Garfield’s deep dive into encyclopedia-making would merely involve summarizing scholars’ studies on the subject, which he acknowledges often and with reverence, if it did not also spotlight some of the wonderful, eccentric personalities that animate this history. However bookish knowledge can be, Garfield counters this tendency with a light and personable touch.
Shuang Xuetao tr. Jeremy Tiang
RaveThe New York Time Book ReviewShuang’s book, his first to be translated into English — and nimbly so by Jeremy Tiang — is named after the dilapidated neighborhood he knows well. He gives voice to an intriguing cast of characters left behind by China’s economic miracle ... Shuang pulls no punches, and the reader has much to gain by stepping into this world of matter-of-fact brutality, mystery and intrigue, unexpected humor and small but meaningful acts of personal honor ... offers modest hope and a fleeting sense of restored harmony, while avoiding any moral high ground or grand narrative. Instead of taking a bird’s-eye view, Shuang places his gaze at the level of his characters ... From start to finish, his scope is close to the ground, his language sparingly emotive and unobtrusive. He never flinches. As a result, we don’t look away either.
