Written Reviews

George Saunders: Vigil

February 19, 2026

I always approach a new George Saunders book with hope. Vigil returns to the afterlife, moral reckoning, and the fragile possibility of redemption. But it left me frustrated. Here are my thoughts.

Muriel Spark: Robinson

February 11, 2026

I continue my chronological trek through Muriel Spark’s work with her second, 1958’s Robinson.

Sylvia Townsend Warner: Lolly Willowes

January 29, 2026

January’s pick for NYRB Women 2026 was Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willowes, which is just celebrating one hundred years.

Susie Boyt: Loved and Missed

January 27, 2026

Here is my review of Susie Boyt’s Loved and Missed, a painful, attentive novel about grief, in that attentiveness, something quietly enriching.

Muriel Spark: The Comforters

January 23, 2026

I’m starting a project to read all of Muriel Spark’s novels in chronological order. First up is her debut: The Comforters.

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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.