Joyce Carol Oates’ Butcher, R.O. Kwon’s Exhibit, Daniel Handler’s And Then? and Then? What Else?, and Kevin Kwan’s Lies and Weddings all feature among the best reviewed books of the week.
1. Butcher by Joyce Carol Oates
(Knopf)
4 Rave • 2 Positive
“The book has the feverish energy, narrative propulsion and descriptive amplitude—sometimes to excess—of much of her earlier work … Undoubtedly one of her most surreal and gruesome works, sparing no repulsive detail or nefarious impulse. In the end, though, the purview of the novel is larger than one might think, becoming an empathic and discerning commentary on women’s rights, the abuses of patriarchy and the servitude of the poor and disenfranchised. Oates, as is her wont, succeeds in creating a world that is apart from our own yet familiar, making it impossible to dismiss her observations about twisted natures and random acts of violence.”
–Daphne Merkin (The New York Times Book Review)
2. Exhibit by R.O. Kwon
(Riverhead)
3 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed
Read an interview with R.O. Kwon here
“Some readers might sour at the inconclusive ending. But in my mind, nothing is more appropriate for a novel about religion’s hauntings, about religion and art and desire overrunning language and all its forms, including the novel. Kwon understands that these stories cannot have clean endings because something always escapes the telling. We end up silent, tense, gesturing, pointing.”
–Ryan Lackey (The Los Angeles Review of Books)
3. Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
(Doubleday)
2 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed
Read an interview with Kevin Kwan here
“Lies and Weddings is chock-full of scheming characters and breathtakingly lavish scenes … Kwan remains a cheekily hilarious writer, with footnotes that give each chapter an extra kick … Pure pleasure.”
–Amy Scribner (BookPage)
**
1. Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America by Shefali Luthra
(Doubleday)
5 Rave • 1 Positive
“Undue Burden isn’t the first book about abortion rights and it certainly won’t be the last. But one quality that sets it apart is that it offers accounts from all types of people in all types of circumstances … Some of the most affecting sections are those in which Luthra details some of the struggles marginalized patients are going through to access essential reproductive care.”
–Alexis Burling (The San Francisco Chronicle)
2. And Then? and Then? What Else? by Daniel Handler
(Liveright)
3 Rave • 3 Positive
“And Then? And Then? What Else? is a bit of a grab bag, starting in the middle and ending in the middle, while telling a series of stories that both connect and overlap … Handler is skilled and nuanced as a writer, with a developed voice and point of view. He has never fit the categories, so why would we expect him to start here? … He is frank without being overly revealing and always seeks out some larger integration, a place where thought and feeling might intersect.”
–David L. Ulin (The Los Angeles Times)
3. In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife by Sebastian Junger
(Simon & Schuster)
2 Rave • 2 Positive
“Junger combines riveting operating-room drama, flush with detailed anatomical explanations, with vivid switchbacks to dangerous adventures in his past as well as forays into medical history, his physicist father’s life, quantum mechanics, and the universal elements of near-death experiences. Tracing the ever-wavering lines between science and mystery, reason and spirituality, Junger grapples with the complexity of the brain, the riddle of consciousness, and our views of death. Ardently researched, consummately written, and boldly forthright, this an intensely moving and deeply provocative immersion.”
–Donna Seaman (Booklist)
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
