“Quicksand and Passing” by Nella Larsen “Quicksand, Larsen’s first novel, is generally considered the better of the two. The work is a superb psychological study of a complicated and appealing woman, Helga Crane, who, like Larsen herself, is the product of a liaison between a black man and a white woman. In one sense, Quicksand
“No one belongs here more than you” by Miranda July “Filmmaker and performing artist Miranda July brings her extraordinary talents to the audio short story in a startling, sexy, and tender collection. In these stories, July gives the most seemingly insignificant moments a sly potency. A benign encounter, a misunderstanding, a shy revelation can reconfigure
“The memorial” by Christopher Isherwood “With The Memorial, Christopher Isherwood began his lifelong work of rewriting his own experiences into witty yet almost forensic portraits of modern society. Set in the aftermath of World War I, The Memorial portrays the dissolution of a tradition-bound English family. Cambridge student Eric Vernon finds himself torn between his
“Antes del final, el autor de Incendios descubre que investigar a nuestros padres nos lleva siempre a un territorio extraño por dos motivos: nos emparenta con otra época y nos hace ver como desconocidos a personas de las que pensábamos saberlo todo y a las que cuesta aceptar en otro papel que el de adultos
“Hay pocos mundos en la ficción de lengua inglesa tan amplios, tan ricos y diversos como el de Doctorow. Este año su primera novela, Welcome to Hard Times, cumple medio siglo; en este tiempo Doctorow ha publicado trece libros de ficción, una obra de teatro y dos compilaciones de ensayos, y el resultado puede muy
“Faithless: tales of transgression” by Joyce Carol Oates “There is a sort of grandeur to the misery experienced by the female protagonists in Joyce Carol Oates’ latest short story collection, Faithless. The women in these stories — spurned lovers, troubled daughters, social misfits and society mavens — are not simply dissatisfied or unhappy, they are
“Brazil” by John Updike “Allusions to Tristan and Isolde dot Updike’s fiction, poetry, and even nonfiction, so it is not surprising to find him reimagining their story as a novel. Surprisingly, he places them in the Brazil of the last three decades. His Tristan is a black beach boy, his Isolde the affluent daughter of
“Afortunadamente para la literatura, esa aversión hacia todo lo que distorsiona el cerebro y transforma la conducta no le ha impedido al sobrio Ellroy crear una prosa demoledora y relacionada permanentemente con el vértigo, extraer pavoroso realismo de argumentos, sentimientos y violencia que rozan el delirio, retratar con genialidad la cara oscura de su país,
“The ballad of the sad café” by Carson McCullers “In The Ballad of the Sad Café, a tale of unrequited love, Miss Amelia, a spirited, unconventional woman, runs a small-town store and, except for a marriage that lasted just ten days, has always lived alone. Then Cousin Lymon appears from nowhere, a little, strutting hunchback
“El inmenso talento literario de Jhumpa Lahiri (Londres, 1967) se basa en que es capaz de contar una y otra vez la misma historia, relatos de inmigrantes indios en la Costa Este de Estados Unidos, y que siempre sea diferente. La crítica la ha comparado con una miniaturista por su capacidad para describir con precisión