Books
The Shakespeare Chronology Recalibrated
By William S. NiederkornDetermining the chronology of Shakespeare’s plays has been both central and problematic since Shakespeare studies originated in the 18th century.
Of Mice and Despots
By Hope E. EwingPrague’s Museum of Communism offers a tour of Communist-era artifacts, in which (according to its English website) “factories, a historical schoolroom, an Interrogation Room…are all part of the experience.
The Secrets of Gaza
By Randy RosenthalAiming to “reveal the secrets of Gaza,” Izzeldin Abuelaish’s I Shall Not Hate is a supremely moving memoir of a doctor-turned peace activist’s harsh life.
Home Truths and African Magic
By Matthew FinchBrowsers of the Young Adult aisle might think, “So far, so Harry Potter…” of Nnedi Okorafor’s latest novel, Akata Witch. But this Nigerian-set adventure offers a provocative meditation on ethnicity and identity, while also challenging Western critics who neglect Young Adult writing.
She That Bore Thee
By Marie BacigalupoThe memoir has become as ubiquitous as the vampire in current publishers’ lists, with the inevitable result that many of these prose lives lack a full-blooded, broadly human viewpoint to raise them above anemic particularity. Nevertheless, a number of noteworthy contributions to the canon have emerged into the light.
Do For Love
By Maxine CaseImagine living a life in which your every desire or ambition is contingent on whether another little girl has the same desire or ambition. That little girl is your sister.
Happiness is a Short-Short
By Justin Courter“Short-shorts” seems to be the common term used for works of the length of those that appear in Helen Phillips’s debut collection. Each piece in And Yet They Were Happy is about half the length of this review.
Foreign Relations
By Vladislav DavidzonThough globalization and the increasing ease of travel have created a worldwide boom in immigrant narratives of cultural crossing and border-hopping, the ethnic immigrant novel is a particularly North American genre.
Nechvatal’s Immersive Noise Theory
By Yuting ZouWhile most people would naturally think of noise as an audio-only disturbance, in Immersion Into Noise, digital artist and theoretician Joseph Nechvatal takes us on a rowdy conversional ride through a series of audio, visual, spatialized, and networked “art noises.”
Rapid Transit
By Jeffrey Cyphers WrightElaine Equi is one who won’t stay “inside the line… or outside the line. // I am the line itself,” she proclaims in the lead poem “Follow Me.” In an age of instant and infinite communication marked by blips, beeps, and tweets, she continues to streamline her unique vision.
A Sexual Revival?
By Rayyan Al-ShawafMeg Wolitzer has an uncanny ability to turn the mundane but consuming difficulties of marriage and motherhood into biting and humorous novelistic fare.
