Martin Amis’ ‘Inside Story’ Is a Grimoire
Where things don't quite add up in autobiography Inside Story, Martin Amis fashions the untidy sum into a sort of punchline; where there aren't any punchlines, he makes the mess into a cosmic joke.
knopf
Privacy and Alt-Right Transhumanism in Hari Kunzru’s ‘Red Pill’
Kunzru excels in capturing the geist in alt-right circles in his latest work, Red Pill, from the callous philosophy down to the very language.
Kent Russell Seeks the Soul of Florida on Epic Road Trip, on Foot
In a bit of drunken revelry, Kent Russell and his buddies decide it is their destiny to tell the gonzo story of Florida in the time when Trump is campaigning for president.
For the Love of Japan: ‘The Sakura Obsession’
Naoko Abe's The Sakura Obsession chronicles the struggle to preserve diversity in a world of compulsive uniformity.
Power, Sex and Love in Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’
The Irish novelist Sally Rooney centers her drama, Normal People, around the desperations of youth under late-capitalism, but the novel's psychological excavations, nuanced and piercing, owe just as much to the influence of Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf.
On ‘Love and Strife’, but Mostly the Strife, of Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow has won many literary awards, including the Nobel, Pulitzer, and National Book Award. Yet Zachary Leader's thorough work, The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965-2005, a PopMatters pick, begins with Below asking himself, "Was I a man or was I a jerk?"
Haruki Murakami’s ‘Killing Commendatore’ Is Yet Another Turn Around the Tired Fantasy Carousel
Disturbing pedophilia and time-consuming repetition drag down Haruki Murakami's Killing Commendatore.
Tommy Orange Reignites the Native American Literary Movement
There There positions Tommy Orange as the luminary who will reignite the Native American literary movement.
Nowhere Is a Place in Tatyana Tolstaya’s ‘Aetherial Worlds’
The short stories in Aetherial Worlds poignantly merge past, present, and fantasy through auto-fiction, essayistic pieces, and allegorical tales.
Dave Eggers’ ‘The Monk of Mokha’ Is a Little Too Carefully Brewed
Wherein understanding is synonymous with compassion, then surely the effort Eggers has extended through most of his publishing career should be applauded.
One Life, Breathlessly Lived: On Artist and ’70s Scenster Duncan Hannah’s Memoir
Things get hazy with drugs and bloody with violence, but hipster Hannah remains happy.