Zadie Smith’s The Fraud, Stephen King’s Holly, and Maria Bamford’s Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week.
1. The Fraud by Zadie Smith
(Penguin Press)
16 Rave • 5 Positive • 5 Mixed • 1 Pan
“It offers a vast, acute panoply of London and the English countryside, and successfully locates the social controversies of an era in a handful of characters … Touchet is the most morally intelligent character Smith has written … The book’s structure is uneven. One wishes, for instance, that the chapters would signal their time jumps more consistently … But these infelicities stop mattering when we are deep into the trial and the book turns into a portrait of people with thwarted ambitions, of people who, like Ainsworth, become frauds without knowing … As always, it is a pleasure to be in Zadie Smith’s mind, which, as time goes on, is becoming contiguous with London itself. Dickens may be dead, but Smith, thankfully, is alive.”
–Karan Mahajan (The New York Times Book Review)
2. Holly by Stephen King
(Scribner)
6 Rave • 1 Positive • 1 Pan
“King has never been shy about his politics, but Holly is one of his most political novels to date, and it’ll’ surely anger all the right people. Holly is a gripping crime novel, but it’s one that’s very close to the horror aesthetic King is known for … the way the narrative is constructed and the layering of characters and their gruesome ends are all reminders that King is also a superb crime/mystery writer who easily navigates the interstitial space where all dark genres meet … a testament to King’s talents as a writer and a stark reminder of what can happen when writers allow the magic that inhabits their characters to blossom unimpeded by their original plans for them. Please, Mr. King, give us more Holly soon.”
–Gabino Iglesias (NPR)
3. I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel
(Graywolf)
3 Rave • 4 Positive • 1 Mixed
Read an excerpt from I’m a Fan here
“Corrosive, brilliant … It would be a disservice to call I’m a Fan a social-media novel, because the plot is so much more ramified and vital than the cold flat surface of a screen would allow for … What makes I’m a Fan so successful is the protagonist’s ability to interpret and critique the toxicity of these structures even as she is caught inside them.”
–Lamorna Ash (The Guardian)
**
1. Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford
(Gallery Books)
6 Rave • 1 Positive
“Some of her misadventures—among them, being committed to a psych ward and accidentally killing a beloved pug—feel like anything but laughing matters. But it’s a testament to Bamford that she’s able to fill these pages with stories that are relatable and consistently hilarious, even when they’re harrowing … This material, and the quirks of its presentation, make the memoir feel like a 270-some-page portal directly into Bamford’s mind. That notion would probably be terrifying to Bamford, who worries frequently on the page that she may be coming across as a massive narcissist. But there’s an authenticity to her words that elevates them into something beyond the category of comedy memoir … Bamford has created a work destined to shine much-needed light on mental illness. Illuminating those serious moments with humor is her true triumph.”
–Zack Ruskin (The Washington Post)
2. Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany by Katja Hoyer
(Basic Books)
4 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed
“Enormously refreshing … As a guide to East Germany’s political history, Hoyer is commendably brisk and judicious. But it’s when she’s discussing the lives of ordinary people that her book really comes alive … Terrifically colorful, surprising and enjoyable.”
–Dominic Sandbrook (The Times)
3. The Once Upon a Time World: The Dark and Sparkling Story of the French Riviera by Jonathan Miles
(Pegasus)
3 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed
Read an excerpt from The Once Upon a Time World here
“Miles’s evocation of the French Riviera is as fascinating in its historical sweep as its devotion to gossip and misbehaviour … The book becomes a delirious chronicle of excess … a phenomenal work of research across hundreds of histories, biographies, memoirs and letters. It shifts with masterly control across a dozen arenas from high art to low scandal, taking in fashion, sport, ballet and motor racing. It’s utterly absorbing, indelicate to a shocking degree and I devoured every page of it.”
–John Walsh (The Sunday Times)
