In ‘The Fly Trap’ Fredrik Sjöberg Writes Much Like His Subjects Behave
If Sjöberg's stylistic tics are an impediment to real investigation, they at least provide an aesthetic pleasure all their own.
Austin Price
‘Muse’ Is a Story Not About Love, but About Worship
Johnathan Galassi's send-up to the publishing industry and his own past offers nothing to the tradition it so lionizes.
A Wicked Sense of Humor Veers Heavily Towards the Sadistic in ‘Crow Fair’
If sometimes flawed, often confusing and always marked by challenging style, Thomas McGuane's Crow Fair remains a remarkable offering from one of America's finest writers.
The Characters in ‘The Book of Unknown Americans’ Are Silenced by the Voice
Though Cristina Henriquez's entrancing prose promises to save this poorly plotted and contrived mess, it ultimately dooms it.
HOLY: Stabs
Stabs is too conservative a psychedelic album to stand out but provides some easy fun while it lasts.
Color Therapy: Mr. Wolf Is Dead
If you're looking for mood-music and a soporific, look no further! Color Therapy's here to put you to sleep and exercise any of those unwanted emotions!
‘Litpop – Writing and Popular Music’ Suffocates From a Lack of the Lively Air of Opinion
This anthology is meant to study two of the most lively artistic fields on the planet, and yet it's bogged down by articles of no great substance and no great joy.
Man Without Country: Maximum Entropy
If you don't like music, then you'll adore Maximum Entropy.
The Westies: West Side Stories
Michael McDermott's newest project is off to a promising start. If only it was a little more difficult.
Bandit: Of Life
For an album that's sparse on ideas and interest it certainly SOUNDS big.
JEFF the Brotherhood: Wasted on the Dream
If you wanted a cover album of Black Sabbath, Nirvana and Weezer's greatest hits but the originals were too strong for you, no worries! JEFF the Brotherhood's prolonged adolescent fixation with their predecessors continues!
Comedy Is a Lower Form in B.J. Novak’s ‘One More Thing’
B.J. Novak forsakes an impeccable sense of timing and an acerbic wit to patronize with this collection of cast-off skit ideas and sappy short-stories.