Literary Criticism

Hwang Jungeun’s Noisy, Crowded Space

Hwang Jungeun’s Noisy, Crowded Space Hwang Jungeun’s Noisy, Crowded Space

It’s rare for a novel to be so dense in social meaning, and yet so lightly composed.

Apr 14, 2017 / E. Tammy Kim

Caught Between Modernity and Tradition

Caught Between Modernity and Tradition Caught Between Modernity and Tradition

With sympathy and ruthlessness, U.R. Ananthamurthy’s novel Samskara gives shape to the mutinies that raged within mid-century India. 

Mar 20, 2017 / Ratik Asokan

The Model of Perfection in Morgan Parker’s Poems

The Model of Perfection in Morgan Parker’s Poems The Model of Perfection in Morgan Parker’s Poems

The poet allows the struggles and the messiness of life—with a particular focus on black womanhood—to breathe.

Mar 17, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Christopher Soto

Manguso 300 Arguments

Sarah Manguso’s Existential Aphorisms Sarah Manguso’s Existential Aphorisms

In 300 Arguments, the author’s rejection of the conventions of storytelling helps reinforce the sense of her own smallness.

Mar 16, 2017 / Michele Moses

Sick for Home, Nauseated by Home

Sick for Home, Nauseated by Home Sick for Home, Nauseated by Home

The lens of Ottessa Moshfegh’s Homesick for Another World is, almost without exception, fitted close-up on conversations, petty rumination, and squalid interiors.

Feb 14, 2017 / Hannah Gold

A Catalog of Cadavers

A Catalog of Cadavers A Catalog of Cadavers

Claudia Salazar Jiménez sets out to conjure the experience of atrocity in Peru with her debut novel, Blood of the Dawn. The result is disquieting—though not in the way you’d e...

Dec 30, 2016 / Ratik Asokan

Letters Icon

Letters From the December 19-26, 2016, Issue Letters From the December 19-26, 2016, Issue

Return of the repressed… Book therapy… Happily enough ever after… Dylan revisited…
 Bentham’s revenge…

Dec 1, 2016 / Our Readers and Samuel Moyn

The Personal Is Political, But Not Always Fictional

The Personal Is Political, But Not Always Fictional The Personal Is Political, But Not Always Fictional

What is the novelist Intizar Husain’s theory of Pakistani history?

Nov 19, 2016 / Ratik Asokan

Criticism in the Twilight

Criticism in the Twilight Criticism in the Twilight

What role can the critic play in today’s uncertain times?

Nov 16, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Nicholas Dames

Leopoldine Core

Leopoldine Core’s Concrete Jungle Leopoldine Core’s Concrete Jungle

In her new collection, Core evidences a serious concern not just with what happens in a story, but also where it occurs.

Sep 30, 2016 / Alina Cohen

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