Book Review

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  Book Review A. Lee Martinez: Emperor Mollusk Versus The Sinister Brain

  This strange, entertaining novel about a space invertebrate and his arch-enemy is too good to be pulp, but it’s hard to categorize it otherwise.

  April 2, 2012 | 12:01am -

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  Book Review Kevin Barry: City Of Bohane

  A lyrical novel about a love triangle among gangsters in a future city doesn’t fully live up to its ambitious writing style.

  April 2, 2012 | 12:00am -

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  Book Review Rob Jovanovic: Seeing The Light: Inside The Velvet Underground 

  A new band bio tells the same old story, and skips the most interesting part.

  March 28, 2012 | 12:04pm -

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  Book Review Jessica Maria Tuccelli: Glow

  A winning debut starts in 1941 and heads backward from there.

  March 28, 2012 | 12:03pm -

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  Book Review Lauren Groff: Arcadia

  A commune gradually disintegrates in this novel based around the utopian community of Oneida, New York.

  March 28, 2012 | 12:02pm -

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  Book Review Sarah Manguso: The Guardians

  Finally dealing with her grief over a friend's suicide, a writer returns to memoir and explores the depths of pain.

  March 28, 2012 | 12:01pm -

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  Book Review Kevin Smith: Tough Sh*t: Life Advice From A Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good

  The filmmaker offers life advice aimed squarely at his followers.

  March 28, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review RJ Smith: The One: The Life And Music Of James Brown 

  The most complete bio of the funk pioneer to date shows his petty, domineering side as well as his hard-working show-biz-hero side. 

  March 21, 2012 | 12:03pm -

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  Book Review Mark Sundeen: The Man Who Quit Money

  This inspiring biography follows a Utah man who gave up capitalism and commerce in favor of a roving lifestyle. 

  March 21, 2012 | 12:02pm -

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  Book Review David Hughes: Tales From Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? 

  The latest in an author’s series of books about lamentably lost film projects has too much detail, not enough form. 

  March 21, 2012 | 12:01pm -

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  Book Review Heidi Julavits: The Vanishers

  The co-founder of The Believer returns with another stirring novel, this time about a failing psychic and her duel with the student who might surpass her.

  March 21, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review Laura Barcella (ed.): Madonna & Me

  This collection of personal essays about Madonna is generally not as interesting as its muse.

  March 14, 2012 | 12:02pm -

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  Book Review Tim Powers: Hide Me Among The Graves

  The long-gestating sequel to The Stress Of Her Regard takes readers back to the alt-history of the 1800s, where Romantic poets mingle with vampiric ghosts.

  March 14, 2012 | 12:01pm -

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  Book Review Lyndsay Faye: The Gods Of Gotham

  A thriller by the author of Dust And Shadow puts an angry on the streets of 1840s New York, amid real historical figures and cases.

  March 14, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review Geoff Dyer: Zona: A Book About A Film About A Journey To A Room

  The author of Out Of Sheer Rage dissects Andrei Tarkovsky’s landmark film Stalker by way of free association and personal connections.

  March 14, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review John D’Agata, Jim Fingal: The Lifespan Of A Fact

  A raging e-mail quarrel between a fact-checker and a writer is now a lively, angry book about the nature and importance of truth.

  March 7, 2012 | 12:03pm -

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  Book Review Jeanette Winterson: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

  The author of the award-winning, semi-autobiographical lesbian coming-out novel Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit turns to biography and explains why she hid in fiction.

  March 7, 2012 | 12:02pm -

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  Book Review Toby Lester: Da Vinci’s Ghost

  A contributing Atlantic editor followed the 1,500-year trail between a Roman architect and Leonardo da Vinci, and wrote this book about both of them.

  March 7, 2012 | 12:01pm -

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  Book Review Robin D.G. Kelley: Africa Speaks, America Answers

  An entertaining look at the junction between ’60s jazz and African music follows a number of African-American musicians as they explored their roots, and their music’s history.

  March 7, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review Michael Ian Black: You're Not Doing It Right

  The comedian, comic essayist, and veteran of Stella and The State gets surprisingly frank and personal in his thoughts on relationships, sex, and family. 

  February 29, 2012 | 12:03pm -

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  Book Review Josh Bazell: Wild Thing

  The sequel to Beat The Reaper drops its hitman-in-witness-production protagonist into increasingly weird territory, involving a killer monster. 

  February 29, 2012 | 12:02pm -

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  Book Review Lysley Tenorio: Monstress: Stories

  This short-story collection follows familiar lines for an immigrant writer, but finds ways to make familiar topics compelling.

  February 29, 2012 | 12:01pm -

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  Book Review Craig Taylor: Londoners: The Days And Nights Of London Now

  A Studs Terkel-esque collection of short interviews covers a wide swath of London life, as people discuss their city’s best and worst sides.

  February 29, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review Jim Yardley: Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, An American Coach, And Two Cultures Clashing

  A Pulitzer-winning critic compellingly examines Chinese basketball, as imported NBA figures and Western coaching styles cause a culture clash.

  February 22, 2012 | 12:02pm -

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  Book Review Cristina Alger: The Darlings

  A debut thriller about a sprawling, wealthy family addresses a financial catastrophe lacks depth or worthwhile characters. 

  February 22, 2012 | 12:01pm -

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  Book Review Ben Marcus: The Flame Alphabet

  The experimental writer known for publicly battling Jonathan Franzen over writing style returns after a decade with his most accessible book to date.

  February 22, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review Matt Ruff: The Mirage

  A daring novel re-imagines 9/11 as 11/9—an American terrorist attack on the world-dominating United Arab States—in a story that echoes Philip K. Dick.

  February 22, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  Book Review Anne Rice: The Wolf Gift

  After a sojourn in quasi-religious writing, the Vampire Lestat author returns to supernatural horror, with frustratingly conflict-free results. 

  February 15, 2012 | 12:03pm -

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  Book Review Orson Scott Card: Shadows In Flight

  The Shadow branch of the classic Ender’s Game series continues, to diminishing returns, and via a frustrating dead end.

  February 15, 2012 | 12:02pm -

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  Book Review Eowyn Ivey: The Snow Child 

  In this touching debut, which mirrors a Russian fairy tale, a couple builds a child out of snow, then deals with the unlikely results. 

  February 15, 2012 | 12:01pm -