Written Reviews

Robert Aickman: Compulsory Games

May 24, 2018

Robert Aickman is a master of the strange short story. NYRB Classics has just released a collection of 15 of his stories, entitled Compulsory Games.

In Memoriam: Philip Roth

May 23, 2018

The American writer Philip Roth has died at 85. The early days of The Mookse and the Gripes were filled with reviews of his work, and I still look back on reading many of these with fondness. Here is a brief remembrance.

2018 Man Booker International Prize Winner

May 22, 2018

This year’s Man Booker International Prize winner has been announced — and the Shadow judges agree!

Frank Borzage: Moonrise

May 22, 2018

Frank Borzage’s 1948 film Moonrise is a lyrical noir with a lot to love but with some significant problems. The strengths, though, make it worth grappling with. The Criterion Collection recently released Borzage’s late film on home video.

Ben Marcus: “Stay Down and Take It”

May 21, 2018

This week’s New Yorker story is Ben Marcus’s “Stay Down and Take It.”

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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 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.