A Garden of Monsters A Garden of Monsters
The imaginary fascists in Roberto Bolaño's ironic encyclopedia Nazi Literature in the Americas bear a complex relationship to reality.
Mar 13, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Carmen Boullosa
Foes Foes
J.M. Coetzee, now out with a new novel and a collection of essays, reminds us what a master he is at turning life into narrative.
Feb 7, 2008 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
The Dot Matrix The Dot Matrix
In I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody, novelist Sinan Antoon explores themes of love, loss, identity and resistance in the face of political oppression.
Jan 3, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami
Fly Papers Fly Papers
An English translation of Lydie Salvayre's The Power of Flies demonstrates how this novelist and practicing psychiatrist has earned more nervous respect than love in France.
Jan 3, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Lorna Scott Fox
Car Talk Car Talk
A mock-heroic travelogue by Julio Cortázar and his wife captures the contemplative life on the road.
Dec 20, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Colin Fleming
Memorable Gestures Memorable Gestures
Michael Ondaatje shows off his trademark narrative tricks in his new novel Divisadero, but the magic is wearing thin.
Dec 13, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Tony Eprile
Many Exits Many Exits
Philip Roth's Exit Ghost considers whether we're astonished by death or the life that precedes it.
Nov 21, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Matt Weiland
War Novelist War Novelist
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD. By Norman Mailer. Rinehart and Company. $4.
Nov 20, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Ira Wolfert
Rules of the Game Rules of the Game
A fresh translation of a Portuguese classic offers a poignant portrait of a country's decline.
Nov 15, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Marcela Valdes
Fukú Americanus Fukú Americanus
Junot Díaz's masterful new novel maps the ambiguities in the modern immigrant experience in America.
Nov 8, 2007 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz