Book Review | ‘Thanks to Life: A Biography of Violeta Parra’ by Ericka Verba
A Chilean folklorista gets a long-awaited due.
Brian Tanguay
Recent Stories
Book Review | ‘Mendell Station: A Novel’ by J. B. Hwang
A remarkably assured debut novel and realistic portrayal of working-class life.
Book Review | ‘A Case of Mice and Murder’ by Sally Smith
A murder mystery well told, taking place in a cloistered sanctuary in the heart of London where lawyers and judges have plied their trade since the 14th century.
Book Review | The Chutnification of History: Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’
Revisiting Rushdie’s 1981 novel.
Book Review | ‘Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy’ by Katherine Stewart
An example of how outstanding journalism provides context and connection on the rise of a political movement.
Book Review | ‘Awake For Ever in a Sweet Unrest: a novel’ by Chuck Rosenthal
A magical literary (fictional) adventure with John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron.
Book Review | ‘The Big Green Tent: A Novel’ by Ludmila Ulitskaya, Translated by Polly Gannon
A Russian epic in the tradition of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, set in the period after Stalin’s death.
Book Review | ‘Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us’ by Brian Klaas
A study of power dynamics and what they can lead to and why.
Book Review | ‘That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America’ by Amanda Jones
What happens when an ordinary person suddenly becomes the target of a public controversy? A full-throated defense of the freedom to read, to discover, and to think.
Book Review | ‘The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet’ by Brett Christophers
An examination of why the market will never solve the climate crisis.
