JOHN & PAUL: A Love Story in Songs, by Ian Leslie In our culture, music is most often written about in terms of sales, streams and chart positions. That is, of course, the least intelligent way to think about or talk about music. Ian Leslie’s “John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs” is unconcerned … Read more
This week’s offerings include a poetry collection and a remarkably cleareyed memoir by a survivor of sexual abuse, along with a bounty of good fiction by Amity Gaige, David Szalay, Allison Epstein and others. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein You might be surprised to learn that Oliver Twist has … Read more
In an email interview, the poet celebrated reading aloud, romance novels and bringing libraries to prisons. SCOTT HELLER What books are on your night stand? “Joyful,” by Ingrid Fetell Lee; “Don’t Read Poetry,” by Stephanie Burt; and “Figures of Speech,” by Arthur Quinn. “Joyful” is really dope — making the case for how beauty, which … Read more
“I remember that first Roxy show being mildly terrified and looking over at Mark cracking jokes,” said Skiba, who went on to record two albums with Blink. “His joy would just bring me back into the moment.” Just as the world was beginning to emerge from the pandemic, Hoppus learned he had cancer. “It got … Read more
Rehearsals were strenuous, not least because Snook had recently given birth to her daughter and she wasn’t sleeping much. She described shooting the recorded sequences, including that first one, as one of the hardest experiences of her career. In addition to delivering her lines with conviction, in costume and wig, with differentiated gesture and voice, … Read more
THE INSTABILITY OF TRUTH: Brainwashing, Mind Control and Hyper-Persuasion, by Rebecca Lemov BLAZING EYE SEES ALL: Love Has Won, False Prophets and the Fever Dream of the American New Age, by Leah Sottile On the television drama “Severance,” a sleek dystopian mood piece patently designed for Our Times, employees of a nebulous corporation volunteer to … Read more
BAD NATURE, by Ariel Courage For many people, being diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 40 might prompt an instant reassessment of priorities. For Hester, the narrator of Ariel Courage’s debut novel, “Bad Nature,” this means immediately quitting her job in Manhattan to drive across the country and murder her father. It’s the … Read more
THE USUAL DESIRE TO KILL, by Camilla Barnes The usual desire to kill your exasperating old parents — that’s the implied full title of Camilla Barnes’s wickedly delightful debut novel. Narrated by their middle-aged daughter Miranda, with various epistolary and dramatically scripted passages interspersed, the book chronicles a few months in the lives of a … Read more
SAD TIGER, by Neige Sinno; translated by Natasha Lehrer In December of last year, a court in Avignon, France, found 51 men guilty of raping 72-year-old Gisèle Pelicot, including her husband of 50 years, who repeatedly drugged and assaulted her, invited other men to join him and filmed their abuse. He was given the maximum … Read more
