Written Reviews

Ryan O’Neill: Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers

January 16, 2019

Paul reviews Ryan O’Neill’s Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers.

The Criterion Collection Announces April 2019 Releases

January 15, 2019

The Criterion Collection has announced its April 2019 releases.

Salvatore Scibona: “Do Not Stop”

January 14, 2019

This week’s New Yorker story is Salvatore Scibona’s “Do Not Stop,” an excerpt from his forthcoming novel The Volunteer.

Alice Munro: “The Jack Randa Hotel”

January 11, 2019

Trevor and Betsy return to Alice Munro’s work, looking at “The Jack Randa Hotel,” from her collection Open Secrets.

William Maxwell: They Came Like Swallows

January 10, 2019

After nearly a decade, I return to the work of William Maxwell. They Came Like Swallows is Maxwell’s second novel and often listed as one of his masterpieces alongside So Long, See You Tomorrow. Here are my thoughts.

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Episodes of The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast: discussions of books and authors, shaped by curiosity, rereading, and the pleasures of talking things through.

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The Reading Life

The Mookse and the Gripes Instagram features a more immediate space with posts and videos about current reads, recent finds, including a steady dose of Criterion films.