RaveChicago TribuneSleep Donation makes a turn into dark, murky territory where events become decidedly more horror-filled and morally fraught ... It recalls the World of Darkness amusement park in Swamplandia, as well as some futurized Ray Bradbury realm. What\'s so unique about Russell\'s style is that even when her stories take the inevitable plunge into frightful territory, she retains an inventive, vivid, almost buoyant way with words ... Despite unmistakable strains of allegory—here, for example, sleep trouble could be a metaphor for our oil dependency—Russell\'s narratives never venture into thinly veiled manifestoes. Russell would never be that obvious, and Sleep Donation further proves how fundamental her writing has become. If you\'re a fan of contemporary voices but haven\'t encountered hers yet, wake up already.
Catherine Lacey
RaveChicago TribuneCatherine Lacey\'s debut novel explores that deeply human question — for many, a passing thought; for others, more nagging: \'What if I were to suddenly change the course of my life?\' ... Lacey\'s writing is a tumult of run-on sentences: assured, poetic, unspooling with intensity. She holds the reader rapt for 244 pages, vividly situating us — entrapping us, really — in the brain of someone whose thoughts and actions are increasingly less stable ... the immediacy and inventiveness of Lacey\'s prose makes it invigorating.
Wally Lamb
PanThe Chicago TribuneWe Are Water is a slog. At times, reading it feels like walking around the shallow end of a swimming pool wearing tennis shoes: unnecessarily arduous and slowgoing … Elsewhere, the intricate narrative thrashes about in the deep end, desperately groping around in far too many subjects: gay marriage, divorce, racism, alcoholism, artistic expression, domestic violence, parenting, class conflict, fundamentalist Christianity, murder and a devastating flood — to name a few … The shifting points of view work with varying degrees of success, and it's often difficult to care for any of these characters.
Jac Jemc
RaveThe Chicago Tribune...a page-turning psychological thriller ... Jemc is masterful at conveying the couple's mounting paranoia. Ultimately, the house's 'grip' on their lives threatens the very foundation of their relationship and psyches ... as chilling as it is evocative.
Edwidge Danticat
RaveThe Chicago TribuneThere's no shortage of scribes who've grappled with death in their writing, but The Art of Death offers an inspired syllabus of Danticat's own design — 'not an objective grouping, but a deeply personal one.' Through it, we also learn what moves her on a literary level ... What's important about reading great writing about death — or in the case of The Art of Death, reading about reading about it — is that it teaches us how to live. Rather than shy away from these books, we should turn to them in all seasons.
Marlon James
MixedThe Chicago TribuneChapters jump back and forth among characters — politicians, gang members, CIA agents, assassins, drug dealers, addicts, ex-girlfriends and ghosts — several speaking in Jamaican patois...Together, these voices provide a Rashomon-style look at major events in Jamaica's fraught history, including the attempted assassination of Marley and the lingering effects of racism, sexism and violence. But often they're less of a chorus and more a confusing cacophony … While some of the narrative could arguably be condensed to avoid revisiting the same events — illuminating when it reveals new things; exhausting when it doesn't — ultimately, the epic Brief History is an impressive feat of storytelling: raw, uncompromising, panoramic yet meticulously detailed. The Jamaica portrayed here is one many people have heard songs about but have never seen rendered in such arresting specificity — and if they have, only briefly.
Anna Kendrick
PositiveThe Chicago TribuneThe 31-year-old actress and singer is forthright about the fact that this isn't a tell-all but a curated collection of stories intended to entertain ... Where Scrappy Little Nobody really shines — and goes well beyond Liz Lemon-y tales of misadventure — is in Kendrick's frank musings on fame ... Kendrick's storytelling style is quippy, but it's vulnerable, too. She may not dish much about fellow actors, but she comes clean about her own persistent feelings of fraudulency and inability to do laundry on a schedule. In an era of manufactured authenticity, it's honestly impressive.
Nell Zink
RaveThe Chicago TribuneThe chapterless novel is fast, smart and often very funny yet it doesn't seem strictly satirical. Even while Zink skewers bohemian stereotypes — the affluent squatter, the chain-smoking environmentalist — she cares for her characters, imbuing them with complicated personalities, causes and sexual proclivities. Rich sensory detail, earnest dialogue and raw emotion make these flawed but searching weirdos if not relatable, then at the very least real ... belongs on your fall reading list.
Jon Krakauer
PositiveThe Chicago TribuneThe tone of Missoula is, for the most part, clear and dispassionate, offering level-headed, in-depth reportage. At times, Krakauer's own disdain for alleged assailants bubbles to the surface ... While the second largest town in Montana has certainly had its share of media attention regarding sexual assaults, the disquieting fact running through Krakauer's narrative is this: Missoula is typical.
