Alta Monday Book Review
THE LATEST

Long Con in the New West
In Only Way Out, Tod Goldberg leaves the desert for the Oregon coast, unspooling a hilarious, violent noir that redefines the meaning of hustle.
THE MONDAY BOOK REVIEW

Time and Tide
In The Pelican Child, Joy Williams offers 12 takes on the weirdness of the world.

The Physics of Grief: Aja Gabel’s ‘Lightbreakers’
The author’s second novel contends with art, science, and the folds of memory.

Nurses and Lowriders
Susan Straight’s Sacrament depicts the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Southern California.

Coyote’s Descendants
Julian Brave NoiseCat’s memoir, We Survived the Night, makes use of numerous genres to tell the stories of his family.

What Reality Is This?
Elaine Castillo’s futuristic love story Moderation builds its own world.

An Adulterous Couple
Gary Krist reconstructs the story of a brazen crime in San Francisco.

Grifter’s Paradise
Nolan Knight’s new novel, The Gorgon of Los Feliz, explores the underbelly of contemporary L.A.

Oblique Strategies
In Which Walks, Laura Moriarty navigates the fallen world.

The Making of Matriarchal Modernism
Jordan Troeller’s new book looks at Ruth Asawa and midcentury artist-mothers.

Redemption Song
In Sister, Sinner, Claire Hoffman brings Aimee Semple McPherson back to life.

Illuminating Care
Courtney Gustafson’s book, Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats, about saving feral cats is also a book about saving one another.

Don’t Ask Why
In Kate Folk’s Sky Daddy, all desire feels radical.































