Book Reviews

Here's an essay on book reviewing.

Below are book reviews which have appeared in American Book Review, Books in Canada—The Canadian Review of Books, Canadian Stories, Midwest Book Review, Quarter After Eight, Requited, The Quarterly Conversation, Rain Taxi, and the Review of Contemporary Fiction. Reviews from Amazon come after.

The Interrogative Mood:
A Novel
by Padgett Powell
(November/December 2010)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Diary of a Blood Donor
by Mati Unt
(January/February 2010)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Mirror In The Well
by Micheline Aharonian Marcom
(March/April 2009)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Parson's Widow
by Marja-Liisa Vartio
(Volume 30, Number 1, November/December 2008)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Everything Passes
by Gabriel Josipovici
(January/February 2008)
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You can visit www.carcanet.co.uk
to order Gabriel's book

The Last Novel
by David Markson
(June 2008)
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The Book of Chameleons
by José Eduardo Agualusa
(January/February 2008)
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The Solzhenistyn Reader: New and Essential Writings 1947-2005
edited by Edward E. Ericson, Jr. and Daniel F. Mahoney
(December 2007)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

African Psycho
by Alain Mabanckou
(December 2007)
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Descents of Memory:
The Life of John Cowper Powys and Porius
by Morine Krissdóttir and John Cowper Powys
(November 2007)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

Conversations with Professor Y
by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
(October 2007)
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Double-Blind
by Michelle Butler Hallett
(October 2007)
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Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife
by Sam Savage
(October 2007)
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Die, Lady, Die
by Alejandro López
(September 2007)
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The Voice of the Heart:
The Workings of Mervyn Peake's Imagination
by G. Peter Winnington
(September 2007)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow:
How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame and
Oceans: An Illustrated Reference
by Mark Monmonier and Dorrik Stow respectively
(March 2007)
Images courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Skipping Towards Armageddon:
The Politics and Propaganda of the Left Behind Novels and the LaHaye Empire
by Michael Standaert
(January/February 2007)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Singer on the Shore: Essays 1991-2004
by Gabriel Josipovici
(November 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

You can visit www.carcanet.co.uk
to order Gabriel's book

Siberia
by Nikolai Maslov
(November 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Centuria: One Hundred Ouroboric Novels
by Giorgio Manganelli
(October 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

You can visit www.mcphersonco.com
to order this book in paperback

Things in the Night and
Hidden Camera
by Mati Unt and Zoran Zivkovic
(September 2006)
Images courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Lunar Follies
by Gilbert Sorrentino
(May/June 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

A Strange Commonplace
by Gilbert Sorrentino
(May/June 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Over the Rainbow? Hardly: Collected Short Seizures
by Chandler Brossard
(April 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

My Life in CIA: A Chronicle of 1973
by Harry Mathews
(January/Febuary 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Going Down
by David Markson
(January/February 2006)

Copyright © 2005 by David Markson from Going Down: A Novel.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher
Cover design by Gopa & Ted2

Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time
by Michael Downing
(November 2005)

Copyright © 2006 by Michael Downing from Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher
Cover design by Kimberly Glyder Design

Sebastian's Arrows:
Letters and Mementoes of Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia
Lorca ed, trans., annotated by Christopher Maurer
(October 2005)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

A*hole
by Hilton Obenzinger
(September 2005)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Memories of My Melancholy Whores
by Gabriel García Márquez
(September 2005)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Tribute to Saul Bellow
(May 2005)

The End: Hamburg 1943
by Hans Erich Nossack
(March 2005)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Vanishing Point
by David Markson
(January/February 2005)

Copyright © 2004 by David Markson from Vanishing Point: A Novel.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher
Cover design by Kimberly Glyder Design

Right and Left
by Joseph Roth
(November 2004)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Fountain at the Center of the World
by Robert Newman
(September 2004)
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Goldberg: Variations
by Gabriel Josipovici
(September 2004)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

You can visit www.carcanet.co.uk
to order Gabriel's book

Siegfried
by Harry Mulisch
(August 2004)
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The Moon in Its Flight
by Gilbert Sorrentino
(June/July 2004)
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Tests of Time: Essays
by William H. Gass
(April/May 2004)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Dan Yack,
Confessions of Dan Yack and
Gold
by Blaise Cendrars
(January/February 2004)
Images courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Actress in the House
by Joseph McElroy
(January/Febuary 2004)
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P
by Andrew Lewis Conn
(January/Febuary 2004)
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Three Novellas
by Thomas Bernhard
(December 2003)
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The Dance of Geometry
by Brian Howell
(October 2003)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Ascension
by Steven Galloway
(September 2003)
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Agapē and
The Rush for Second Place
by William Gaddis
(April 2003)
Images courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Fish, Soap, and Bonds
by Larry Fondation
Vol. 11, No. 64
(Dec. 2008/Jan. 2009)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Night Soul and Other Stories
by Joseph McElroy
Spring 2011
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The Abyss of Human Illusion
by Gilbert Sorrentino
Summer 2010
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
Click to read full screen
Go to online pages 152-157

The Withdrawal Method
Review of The Withdrawal Method
by Pasha Malla
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
Click to read full screen
Go to online pages 210-212

God, Hell, Sex and Tobacco
Review of Collaborators
by Janet Kaufmann
February 1989

Spanish Fly By Night
Review of City of Marvels by Carlos Mendoza
December 1988

Unholy and not Innocent
Review of The Unholy Innocents: A Romance
by Gilbert Adair
October 1988

Then We Came to the End
by Joshua Ferris
Riding Toward Everywhere
by William T. Vollmann
Images courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Valencia
by Michelle Tea
July 2009
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Last Novel
by David Markson
April 2009
An alternate version of the review that appeared in Books in Canada.
See above for the printed version.
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Fish, Soap, and Bonds
by Larry Fondation
April 2009
For an alternate review of this book, see above under Canadian Stories
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Braindead Megaphone: Essays
by George Saunders
April 2009
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Time at War
by Nicholas Mosley
April 2009
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O Street
by Corrina Wycoff
April 2009
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Widow
by Michelle Latiolais
June 2011
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Cry of the Sloth
by Sam Savage
September 2010
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Letters of John Cowper Powys and Dorothy Richardson
edited by Janet Fouli
August 2010
Image courtesy of publisher; review posted courtesy of The Powys Journal

Volume 16, 2010

Novel in Three Lines
Félix Fénéon
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Volume 15, February 2009

Monsieur
Jean-Phillipe Toussaint
Dalkey Archive Press, 2008, 102 pp., $12.95, paperback, mixed genre
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Camera
Jean-Phillipe Toussaint
Dalkey Archive Press, 2008, 120 pp., $12.95, from the uncorrected galleys, mixed genre.
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles
Jeff Martin
Soft Skull Press, 2008, 172 pp., $12.95, paperback, nonfiction.

Volume 9, March 2003

The Corrections
Jonathan Franzen
NY: Picador USA, 2002, 592 pp., $15.00, paperback, fiction.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. ©
 

The Persian Bride
James Buchan
Boston: Mariner, 1999, 343 pp., paperback, fiction.

House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski
London: Pantheon, 2002, 709 pp., paperback, fiction.
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Truth About Marie
by Jean-Philippe Toussaint
4 December 2011
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Amazing Adult Fantasy
by A.D. Jameson
(September 2011)
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Slut Lullabies
by Gina Frangellow
March 2011

The Novel: An Alternative History: Beginnings to 1600
by Steven Moore
5 September 2010
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

William Gaddis, "The Last of Something": Critical Essays
Review of William Gaddis, "The Last of Something": Critical Essays
eds. Crystal Alberts, Christopher Leise and Birger Vanwesenbeeck
(Issue 19, Spring 2010)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

After & Making Mistakes
by Gabriel Josipovici
22 March 2010
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An Also Sharks
by Jessica Westhead
(Fall 2011 online issue)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

Dinosaurs
by Steve Brusatte and Michael Benton
(December-January 2010-2011 online issue)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

William T. Vollmann: A Critical Study and Seven Interviews
by Michael Hemmingson
Originally appeared in Rain Taxi
(Online Edition Spring 2010)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

Conversations with Julian Barnes
ed. by Vanessa Guignery and Ryan Roberts
Originally appeared in Rain Taxi
(Online Edition Spring 2010)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

Bridge of the Golden Horn
by Emine Sevgi Özdamar
translated by Martin Chalmers
Originally appeared in Rain Taxi
(Online Edition Winter 2010)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Waste
by Eugene Marten
(Fall 2009 online issue)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Unintended Consequences
by Larry Fondation
Originally appeared in Rain Taxi
(Vol.14, No.2, Summer 2009)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Night Work
by Thomas Glavinic
(Review appears in spring print edition. Click on the novel cover for a pdf of the review.)
Images courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Soul and Barbed Wire:
An Introduction to Solzhenitsyn
by Edward Ericson, Jr. and Alexis Klimoff
(Review appears in spring online edition. Click here for the URL or here for a pdf version.)
Images courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
A mediocre and flawed review of The Soul and Barbed Wire in Bookforum by Keith Gessen, found here, prompted me to write a letter, which was published here, along with Gessen's response. His answer was unsatisfactory, so I wrote another letter, published for the first time here.

My Father's Wives
by José Eduardo Agualusa
translated by Daniel Hahn
(Winter 2008/2009 online issue)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

Sheer Fiction IV
by Paul West
(Winter 2008/2009 online issue)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

The Letters of John Cowper Powys and Emma Goldman
by David Goodway
(Fall 2008 online issue)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

Pieces For the Left Hand
by J. Robert Lennon
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner
 

Review of Primeval and Other Times
by Olga Tokarczuk
(Summer 2010)
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Review of Call Me Ahab
by Anne Finger
(Spring 2010)
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Review of Kissed By
by Alexandra Chasin
(Summer 2008)
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Review of Colonel Zoo
by Oliver Cadiot
(Summer 2006)
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Review of Memories of My Melancholy Whores
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(Spring 2006)

Review of Writers on the Air: Conversations about Books and
The Believer's Book of Writers Talking to Writers
by, respectively, Donna Seaman and Vendela Vida, ed.
(Spring 2006)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Review of Gold
by Blaise Cendrars
(Summer 2005)
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Review of Moravagine
by Blaise Cendrars
(Spring 2005)
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Review of P
by Andrew Lewis Conn
(Spring 2004)
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Review of Witch Grass and
We Always Treat Women Too Well
by Raymond Queneau
(Fall 2003)
reprinted in CONTEXT #15
(Spring 2004)
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Review of To the End of the World
by Blaise Cendrars
(Spring 2003),
reprinted in CONTEXT #13
(Spring 2003)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Review of Selected Works of Cesare Pavese
by Cesare Pavese
trans. and intro. R.W. Flint
(Summer 2002)
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The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am
by Kjersti A. Skomsvold
(September 2011)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Accident
by Mihail Sebastian
(July 2011)

Only Joking
by Gabriel Josipovici
(April 2011)
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My Prizes: An Accounting
by Thomas Bernhard
(February 2011)
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The Country Where No One Ever Dies
by Ornela Vorpsi
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Brecht at Night
by Mati Unt
Translation by Eric Dickens
(January 2011)
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

The Enchanted House
by Beth E. Janzen
"Room for everyone"
September 11, 2007
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Tests of Time: Essays
by William Gass
"Not much of an essay writer"
May 13, 2004
[See BiC for a lengthy review of this book]
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

Memed My Hawk
by Yashar Kemal
"Sturdy but it doesn't involve one"
December 25, 2001

The First World War
by Ivan Klima
"A servicable work"
December 13, 2001

My Golden Trades
by Ivan Klima
"A light touch"
December 13, 2001

Women of Sand and Myrrh: A novel
by Hanan Al-Shaykh
"Parched"
November 24, 2001

The Persian Bride
by James Buchan
"Poetic, hard-edged and timely"
November 6, 2001
[see "Three Reviews" for another review of this book]

The Corrections
by Jonathan Franzen
"A tight fit"
October 30, 2001
[see "Three Reviews" for another review of this book]
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. ©

Wyndham Lewis: Painter and Writer
by Paul Edwards
"A clear gaze on a murky fellow"
October 28, 2001

Legally Speaking:
Contemporary American Culture and the Law
by Helle Porsdam
"A persuasive case"
April 3, 2001

The Intuitionist: A Novel
by Colson Whitehead
"An underwhelming novel"
March 14, 2001

November 1916: The Red Wheel/Knot II
by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
"Hunting for history with a big net"
December 9, 2000

Petrushka and the Dancer: the Diaries of John Cowper Powys, 1929-1939
by John Cowper Powys
"Not just another english eccentric"
December 2, 2000

Rude Assignment
by Wyndham Lewis
"Look into the shadows"
November 30, 2000

Diaries: 1899-1941
by Robert Musil
"The penetrating mind of Robert Musil"
November 27, 2000

Moravagine
by Blaise Cendrars
"Sickness unto death"
September 19, 2000
[see RCF for another review of this book]
Image courtesy of publisher, copyright owner

"Since at Least Plato...": And Other Postmodernist Myths
by M.J. Devaney
"Passion and intelligence combined"
June 9, 2000

Vast Alchemies
by G. Peter Winnington
"The mind and art behind the 'Titus' books"
May 29, 2000