The Work-Life-Balance Library Welcomes Another Title
Lara Bazelon’s “Ambitious Like A Mother” is the latest addition to a tall pile of books for women who are pondering issues of employment and children.
In Tove Ditlevsen’s World, Happy Families Don’t Stand a Chance
Two reissued works of fiction, “The Faces” and “The Trouble With Happiness,” upend domestic life in the Danish writer’s cutting, deadpan prose.
Janelle Monáe’s Queer, Afrofuturist Literary Debut
“The Memory Librarian” translates the themes of her 2018 album, “Dirty Computer,” onto the page.
The Strange History of American Conservatism
Matthew Continetti’s “The Right” traces the twists and turns of the right wing’s policies and philosophy.
Left Behind by China’s Economic Miracle
“Rouge Street,” a suite of three novellas by Shuang Xuetao, gives voice to characters in an industrial region sometimes called China’s Rust Belt.
A Daughter Tries to Make Sense of Her Mother’s Suicide
In “Stepping Back From the Ledge,” Laura Trujillo brings a journalist’s eye and a family member’s agony to a bottomless loss.
They Populated Louisiana. Against Their Will.
In “Mutinous Women,” Joan DeJean relates the little-known history of the prisoners deported in 1719 to French colonies on the Gulf Coast.
Review: ‘Disorientation,’ by Elaine Hsieh Chou, and ‘Activities of Daily Living,’ by Lisa Hsiao Chen
Debut novels follow Asian American women researching the lives and work of elusive artists.
Review: ‘Four Treasures of the Sky,’ by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
A debut novel takes a new spin on the 19th-century western.
PURE COLOR
Uncovered review by Marina Smolens, ACLS Brigantine Branch
Sheila Heti’s Pure Colour is a philosophical endeavor that tells the story of
Mira, a woman who goes to school to be an art critic. While attending, she
meets a woman named Annie, to whom she is very drawn. The story centers around
her relationship to Annie, as well as to her father, who dies during the course
of the novel. After his death, Mira falls into a leaf, and is only able to
escape it through Annie’s care for her. The title Pure Colour seems
apt due to the fact that this book is built mostly on emotion, rather than an
abundance of details or images. A green blob is seen on the cover of the book,
and this book indeed “feels” very green and abstract. The
abstractness of it allows space for the reader to imagine themselves in this
world she has created (am I a bird, a fish, or a bear?), and green is the color
of the heart, of love, of nature, of serenity. Heti captures all of this in a
somewhat surreal fashion. Using Mira as our guide, we are led to question the
meaning of art, culture, death, love, and our relationships to both people and
things.
Down on the Black Bayou, a Family History Repeats Itself
In “The Crocodile Bride,” Ashleigh Bell Pedersen unravels four generations of abuse and survival.
The Man Who Made Thinking Sexy
Jerry Z. Muller’s “Professor of Apocalypse” tells the story of Jacob Taubes, who is largely forgotten today but was at the center of intellectual life after the war.
Review: ‘Now Do You Know Where You Are,’ by Dana Levin
In “Now Do You Know Where You Are,” the poet Dana Levin learns to write again and comes to terms with personal and political trauma.
Elizabeth Alexander on ‘The Trayvon Generation’
Alexander talks about her new book, and Lucasta Miller discusses her biography of Keats.
9 New Books We Recommend This Week
Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.
Poems of Exile, Introspection and Self-Discovery (Cicadas, Too)
New collections from Akwaeke Emezi, Solmaz Sharif, Colm Toibin and Phoebe Giannisi.
New in Paperback: ‘Second Place’ and ‘Lady Bird Johnson’
Six new paperbacks to check out this week.
Newly Published Poetry, From Gaza to Zoom Rooms and More
A selection of new poetry collections, from Mosab Abu Toha, Marlanda Dekine, Basie Allen, Shane McCrae, Ama Asantewa Diaka, Mary Jo Salter, Eloisa Amezcua and D. Nurkse.
Review: ‘Continuous Creation,’ by Les Murray
Les Murray’s posthumous collection “Continuous Creation” highlights both his crankiness and the rough magnificence of the landscape he loved.
Book Review: ‘Rapture and Melancholy: The Diaries of Edna St. Vincent Millay’
Seven decades after Millay’s death, “Rapture and Melancholy” paints a picture of artistic triumph, romantic tumult and a daily life that descended into addiction.
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