Alice Munro: “Material”
Trevor and Betsy look at Alice Munro’s “Material,” from her collection Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You.
Trevor Berrett
Maria Gripe: The Glassblower’s Children
I’m letting my two older boys take over again to review a wonderful children’s book that was just reissued by New York Review Children’s Collection: The Glassblower’s Children (Glasbåsarns barn, 1964; tr. from the Swedish by Sheila La Farge, 1973; illustrated by Harald Gripe). I’m also thrilled to get them into the world of translated fiction! But … Read more
Karl Ove Knausgaard: My Struggle: Book Two
With the third book hitting reviewers’ pages in the United Kingdom and due here in the United States in late May, I think it’s safe to say that we English readers are well on our way through Karl Ove Knausgaard’s deeply personal, six-volume project, My Struggle. Recently My Struggle: Book Two (Min Kamp 2, 2009; tr. … Read more
Tessa Hadley: “Under the Sign of the Moon”
Click here to read the abstract of the story on The New Yorker webpage (this week’s story is available only for subscribers). Tessa Hadley’s “Under the Sign of the Moon” was originally published in the March 24, 2014 issue of The New Yorker. Despite the fact that I love Hadley’s work, I usually find that her … Read more
National Book Critics Circle Award Winners
The National Book Critics Circle has named their winners. Fiction: Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Nonfiction: Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, by Sherri Fink Poetry: Metaphysical Dog, by Frank Bidart Autobiography: Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter from Haiti, by Amy Wilentz Biography: Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World, by … Read more
Alfred Hitchcock: Foreign Correspondent
Trevor reviews Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 war film, Foreign Correspondent, recently released on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection. Read the full post.
Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky: Autobiography of a Corpse
Trevor reviews NYRB Classics’ newest collection of Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky’s short stories, Autobiography of a Corpse, translated from the Russian by Joanne Turnbull.
2014 Best Translated Book Award Longlist
Today they announced the longlist for this year’s Best Translated Book Award. This is my favorite book prize, and I’m excited to dig into this list. Here they are, along with their cover images, their publisher blurb, and links to reviews (which I’ll be adding to): The African Shore by Rodrigo Rey Rosa translated from … Read more
2014 (Inaugural) Folio Prize
The inaugural Folio Prize winner is Tenth of December, by George Saunders. I just posted a few brief thoughts on this last week when the book picked up The Story Prize (see that post here). But this does just reconfirm that I need to put aside my old grievances and give the remaining stories in the … Read more
T. Coraghessan Boyle: “The Relive Box”
Click here to read the story in its entirety on The New Yorker webpage. T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “The Relive Box” was originally published in the March 17, 2014 issue of The New Yorker. Trevor It may be me. I’ve always enjoyed Boyle’s stories, but I rarely find them excellent because I rarely find that they really … Read more