In Purity, Jonathan Franzen’s characters struggle to stay clean in filthy times
…for tackling esoteric topics, but he never loses sight of the messy, fleshy humans who bring them to life. Sean Kinch grew up in Austin and attended Stanford University as…
Padgett Powell exercises free imaginative play in the absurd stories of Cries for Help, Various
…language to revivify the world. Sean Kinch grew up in Austin and attended Stanford University as an undergraduate. He later returned to Austin, where he earned a Ph.D. in modern…
In Barefoot to Avalon, David Payne meditates on his brother’s death, his family’s tragedies, and his own shattered psyche
…attempt to piece together a life story from the broken fragments of the past. Sean Kinch grew up in Austin and attended Stanford University as an undergraduate. He later returned…
In Matthew Thomas’s debut novel, We Are Not Ourselves, striving Irish Americans learn to improvise when tragedy threatens to derail their dreams
…captures the “fugitive joys” of marriage and parenthood, the moments between the disappointments and injuries, that make life bearable—and sometimes sublime. Sean Kinch grew up in Austin and attended Stanford…
In Joshua Ferris’s To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, cyber-stalking leads to personal revelation
…he simply continues to seek these sources of light. [This review originally appeared at Chapter 16 on September 15, 2014.] Sean Kinch grew up in Austin and attended Stanford University…
The young hero of Where All Light Tends to Go, David Joy’s debut novel, struggles to overcome a legacy of crime
…light. Sean Kinch grew up in Austin and attended Stanford University as an undergraduate. He later returned to Austin, where he earned a Ph.D. in modern fiction from the University…
