Click here to read my Irish Times review of two new Lucia Berlin books: Evening in Paradise (more stories, following from A Manual for Cleaning Women) and the memoir/photos/letters collected as Welcome Home.
Mariana Enriquez: Things We Lost in the Fire
If you’re squeamish, close your eyes now. Click here to read my paperback review of Mariana Enriquez’s very disturbing but compelling collection of stories. (You can open them again.)
Roland Buti: Year of the Drought
Click here to read my short review, in The Guardian, of Roland Buti’s engaging and surprising coming-of-age novel.
Anna Burns: Milkman
Click here to read my review of Anna Burns’ Booker-shortlisted novel Milkman, in Literary Review magazine. This is a novel that’s had a lot of praise, on my Twitter timeline at least, so my lukewarm response may show the unconvinced that they’re not alone.
Yoko Tawada: The Last Children of Tokyo
Click here to read my capsule review in The Guardian of Yoko Tawada’s The Last Children of Tokyo (translated by Margaret Mitsutani).
There wasn’t room in my review to comment on this, but I noticed that the title of the US edition is The Emissary. This seems to me somewhat closer to the original (Kentoshi) and more in keeping with the spirit of the book, whereas the UK title goes for a more eye-catching take on the underlying premise of the plot. I prefer the US version.
Christine Schutt: Pure Hollywood
Click here to read my short Guardian review of Christine Schutt’s collection of Stories Pure Hollywood, which is part of the Year of Publishing Women initiative by & Other Stories.
Natalia Ginzburg: The Little Virtues
Click here to read my little review in The Guardian of The Little Virtues, Natalia Ginzburg’s collection of essays which has just been reissued by Daunt Books.
