In Robert Olen Butler’s Late City, America’s last surviving WWI soldier reports his life story to God
…part of his final trial, and he hopes he’s in the hands of a benevolent God. Among the questions Sam grapples with is the difficult path to manhood. His father,…
Margaret Renkl discusses her new essay collection, Graceland, at Last
…surrounding them, of ecological disasters caused by indifference, and activists who work to combat that indifference. It’s also the place that gave us the likes of William Edmondson, Dolly Parton,…
Young women use magic to achieve vigilante justice
…unique and vivid worldbuilding, and its monsters are not always villains. Or, at least, that is not all they are. Throughout the novel, readers are forced to grapple with what…
Ron Rash’s In the Valley displays his masterful command of short fiction
…Rash also includes lyrical interstitial passages that list the progression of wildlife loss that logging will bring to this valley — environmental destruction that parallels the human suffering that Serena…
Book Excerpt: Savage Flower
…grass pulsing like tongues underfoot. Are you here? Is it quiet? Can I tell you now, there are bodies sunk in this lake? Let me show you the chimney ghosting…
Mary Adkins’ Palm Beach probes the ethics of the ultra-rich
Rebecca and Mickey, the married couple at the center of Mary Adkins’ novel Palm Beach, think they already know about the lives of the ultra-wealthy. As a journalist, Rebecca specializes…
