‘Great Black Hope’ Prods Black Affluence
In Great Black Hope, Rob Franklin’s debut novel, we have a Black protagonist able to hide behind his finances, even when he slips.
Books
Features, reviews, interviews, and lists about books including cultural commentary and history, non-fiction, literature, and more.
‘Not Long Ago Persons Found’ Destroys Order
The narrator of Not Long Ago Persons Found says “a detective story is supposed to be about the restoration of order”, yet this Kafkaesque tale does not do so.
Gang of Four Memoir Is Full of Spit and Vinegar
Jon King’s Gang of Four memoir To Hell With Poverty! is full of spit and vinegar, a bit tetchy with a sly sense of humor.
‘Lord of the Flies’ 2025 or: How the Empire Struck Inward
The lasting terror in Lord of the Flies isn’t that civilization breaks down: it’s that the tools of empire (dominance, ideology, forced conformity) remain alive and well, even in our children.
‘A Living’ and the Affirmation Work
Michael D. Stein’s A Living: Working-Class Americans Talk to Their Doctor affirms the dignity of work while refusing to reduce workers to transactions.
Gatsby’s Defeat and America’s Status Quo
Gatsby’s fictional legacy is a reflection of America’s all-too-real, relentless ambition, its bottomless hunger for reinvention, and its cruelty toward those who will never reach the upper class.
‘Dark City Dames’ Sheds Light on Women in Film Noir
The incredible amount of information and the stunning reproductions of posters, stills, and publicity photos make Eddie Muller’s Dark City Dames a stirring tribute to women in film noir.
Healing Fiction from Japan and South Korea Is Comforting Yet Complex
The origins of Japanese and Korean healing fiction are intertwined, but the recent wave of Korean healing fiction demonstrates its unique fusion with European and American cultures.
The Long Dark Reach of Cornell Woolrich’s Noir Thrillers
Cornell Woolrich’s premise that happiness is always just beyond reach grabs hold of noir thrillers Dark City, Beware, My Lovely, and No Man of Her Own.
Sophie Gilbert Excavates Millennial Misogyny’s Buildup
Sophie Gilbert’s critique of misogyny in the 1990s and 2000s, Girl on Girl, would be disheartening but for the iconoclastic and subversive feminist artists in pop culture.
Historical Fiction’s Shipwrecks, Magical Objects, and the Marginalized
Historical fiction as diverse as Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account and teen TV show Outer Banks bring real stories of shipwrecks, magical objects, and the marginalized to life.
In Northern Ireland, Absence Makes the Heart Feel More Deeply
Writers like Jan Carson understand that, in the absence of the Troubles, people of Northern Ireland may not know who they are, culturally or artistically, or may struggle to articulate who they are without it.