Ocean Vuong’s heartbreaking debut novel, James Ellroy’s latest crime saga, and Robert Macfarlane’s exploration of the world below us are just some of the books that the critics loved this week.
1. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
8 Rave 3 Positive 1 Mixed
“Vuong uses language to conjure wholeness from a situation that language has already broken, and will continue to break; loss and survival are always twinned … The structural hallmarks of Vuong’s poetry—his skill with elision, juxtaposition, and sequencing—shape the novel … Success as a writer is the mostly unspoken end point of Little Dog’s story: readers who know Vuong’s biography will assume it, and those who don’t will infer it from the strength of the book’s language … Reading On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous can feel like watching an act of endurance art, or a slow, strange piece of magic in which bones become sonatas, to borrow one of Vuong’s metaphors … Like the Beijing-born novelist Yiyun Li, Vuong has a fondness for the sort of wordplay that involves noticing odd accidents in the language that he had to consciously learn … Lines like these risk preciousness, but Vuong’s earnestness is overpowering … In the context of those conferences, Vuong’s story seems extraordinary. But, while Vuong himself is exceptional, much of his experience is not unusual.”
–Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker)
2. City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
5 Rave 5 Positive 3 Mixed 1 Pan
“Gilbert unfurls the premiere of the play in rapturous, breathless chapters that, in a tour de force of literary mimicry, are punctuated with reviews by Brooks Atkinson from The New York Timesand Walter Winchell for the now-defunct New York Daily Mirror … For fans of Gilbert’s best-known work, Eat, Pray, Love, there are no concrete similarities with her juggernaut memoir. Yet City of Girlsembraces some of the same themes … City of Girls is an unbeatable beach read, loaded with humor and insight.”
–Stephan Lee (Newsday)
3. This Storm by James Ellroy
4 Rave 5 Positive 1 Mixed
“Rain is falling over Los Angeles throughout James Ellroy’s breathtakingly complex historical police procedural This Storm, a torrential saga of violence, corruption, lust, radical politics and greed … beneath the conspiracies, double-crosses, killings, lies and alibis snakes an interlocking and comprehensible tale to be discerned—one either told in public or once more hushed up for the greater good … Mr. Ellroy…extends his grand and grotesque yet idealistic vision even farther backward. The author has created an ongoing Balzacian jigsaw puzzle that will surely attract, repel, outrage and seduce readers for years to come.”
–Tom Nolan (The Wall Street Journal)
4. Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
6 Rave 1 Mixed
“Dennis-Benn portrays Patsy beautifully, with real compassion and no judgment … also looks unflinchingly at the experience of undocumented immigrants in America, who are forced to deal with racism and poverty in the land they’ve always dreamed about … benefits from Dennis-Benn’s gorgeous writing—she has a strong narrative voice and a real gift for dialogue … Dennis-Benn isn’t just a compassionate writer, she’s also a courageous one, unafraid to address topics that too often go ignored. And in Patsy and Tru, she’s managed to create two unforgettable characters who function as real people and not literary archetypes. Dennis-Benn is quickly becoming an indispensable novelist, and Patsy is a brave, brilliant triumph of a book.”
–Michael Schaub (NPR)
5. Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett
2 Rave 6 Positive 1 Mixed
“...an irresistible first novel … Arnett possesses all the bravery her characters dream of. There’s none of the shyness and self-consciousness of so much American fiction that masks itself as austerity. She writes comic set pieces to make you laugh, sex scenes to turn you on. The action flips from the past to the present, swimming through first love and first grief on a slick of red Kool-Aid and vodka, suntan oil and fruity lip gloss, easy and unforced. This book is my song of the summer.”
–Parul Sehgal (The New York Times)
**
1. Underland by Robert Macfarlane
7 Rave 1 Positive 2 Mixed
“...[a] masterly and mezmerising exploration of the world below us… We exit, utterly, beautifully changed … Underland is rich with echoes of [earlier] works. It’s as if, deep within the ancient rock, Macfarlane is gaining perspective not only on time and nature, but also on his own literary career … At one point, a taciturn potholer in the Carso, Sergio, offers up a halting explanation of why he seeks to map the underland: ‘Here in the abyss we make… romantic science.’ It’s a fitting description of this extraordinary book, at once learned and readable, thrilling and beautifully written.”
–Alex Preston (The Guardian)
2. The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell’s 1984 by Dorian Lynskey
6 Rave 1 Positive 2 Mixed 1 Pan
“The first part inevitably repeats material from the voluminous commentaries on Orwell already in print. But it is freshly and powerfully argued … The second half of Lynskey’s book is richly informative, surveying the reception of Orwell’s novel decade by decade, and its adaptation … It makes for an astonishing cultural medley … Lynskey’s overall admiration is clear, but he sharply criticizes Orwell’s prejudices—his ‘kneejerk homophobia’ and his ‘thoughtless dismissal of feminism’ … If you have even the slightest interest in Orwell or in the development of our culture, you should not miss this engrossing, enlivening book.”
–John Carey (The Sunday Times)
3. Soulless: The Case Against R Kelly by Jim DeRogatis
3 Rave 3 Positive 1 Mixed
“If there is one thing that becomes abundantly clear after reading this deep investigation into R. Kelly’s horrific actions, it’s that it’s all too little, too late … an infuriating, nauseating, and revelatory document of one man’s monstrous acts—and the society that allowed his monstrosity to go unchecked. If this book puts a spotlight on R. Kelly’s pathologies, it does so by condemning all the ways our systems of accountability have failed the girls of color who were under his sway … often reads like a courtroom drama—except most courtroom dramas don’t let six years transpire between an indictment and the actual trial … R. Kelly’s dirty secrets are revealed in this book, and so is the wide gap between true justice and the law … Despite this bleak topography, there is something affirming about DeRogatis’ refusal to let the story go.”
–Ines Bellina (The AV Club)
=4. Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
3 Rave 2 Positive 1 Mixed
“Bouverie, a young British journalist, is aware that he’s entering well-worn ground. Unlike other books about the prelude to World War II, Appeasement avoids narrowing in on a single event (Munich) or individual (Chamberlain) in favor of a more comprehensive and immersive account … This is well-paced narrative history: intelligent, lucid, riveting—even while possessing the terrible knowledge of what happened next.”
–Jennifer Szalai (The New York Times)
=4. Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall by James Polchin
3 Rave 2 Positive 1 Mixed
“Compact and powerful, Polchin’s social history of crimes against queer men in the first half of the 20th century coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. An important book for an important anniversary … I have no significant criticisms of this book … this book is not light reading. Polchin describes these murders in graphic, heartbreaking detail … Indecent Advances should be required reading. Highly recommended.”
–Sarah Hendess (Historical Novel Society)
