The characters of Katy Simpson Smith’s The Everlasting span the long, winding history of Rome
…as more than a colorful swirl of imagery. They provide a structural conceit that allows Smith to organize two millennia’s worth of material about Rome’s history and people. In “The…
Madison Smartt Bell discusses the life and work of novelist Robert Stone
…performed that maneuver, although not in Horatio Alger style (a comparison I’m sure he would have scorned). In this very general way, he actually did live that version of the…
Patti Smith chronicles her idiosyncratic path through the creative life in Year of the Monkey
…bearing witness to music’s alchemical power in a volatile world. Smith’s latest dispatch from her nomadic travels, Year of the Monkey, also reflects the surreal confusion of our fractured, threatening…
Novelist Louise Erdrich draws from her own family history for The Night Watchman
…battle against Resolution 108 would have meant losing legal safeguards that kept these already ravaged nations from dissolving altogether. Alongside Thomas, the novel’s other driving force is Patrice Paranteau, a…
Rita Sims Quillen delivers a thoughtful thriller
…Eva and Andrew Nettles, who own a local sawmill. Eva, alone during the day with her young niece, Katie, catches the drifter trying to steal a chicken and chases him…
Lorraine López sends up the foibles of arts faculty in Postcards from the Gerund State
…women grow inhibited by a myriad of potential consequences, both personal and professional, believing they must bridle “that unspeakable temptation not to be nice.” But for Lucinda, confrontation grows inevitable….
