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Perfume and Pain, by Anna Dorn, reviewed by Jessica Blough (May 20, 2024)
“These love stories can be marked by a similar intrigue and desire as that of other relationships and their not infrequently disastrous storylines.”
Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner, reviewed by Anita Felicelli (September 9, 2024)
“Kushner’s fiction, while often deeply politically aware, is also foundationally interested in art and transformation, the processes via which we think and become. Through its narrative design, Creation Lake ingeniously evokes the ethics of land preservation as well as corporate technology’s role in transforming earth’s resources into things that only further alienate us.”
Mojave Ghost, by Forrest Gander, reviewed by David L. Ulin (October 14, 2024)
“Forrest Gander’s Mojave Ghost is a book of becoming. This may seem an odd formulation to apply to the work of a poet who has received fellowships from the Guggenheim and Whiting Foundations and won a Pulitzer Prize for his 2018 collection, Be With. (He has also contributed to Alta Journal.) But then again, that’s the whole idea.”
The Day and Night Books of Mardou Fox, by Nisi Shawl, reviewed by Lynell George (December 2, 2024)
“Shawl’s novella is suffused with magic—permeable passageways between past and present, between waking and dreaming. Her protagonist, Marlene ‘Mardou’ Todd, represents a tribute to Lee’s creativity and intellect, but also to her open heart.”
Colored Television, by Danzy Senna, reviewed by Jackie Desforges (September 16, 2024)
“Colored Television is a book about how hard it is to make a book—how hard it is to do anything, really, when an artist’s worth is largely tied to how much money she is making, how many reviews she has, and whether or not her book was immediately optioned. But it is also about want—regular, relatable want—and how it can lead you to take things you never thought you’d reach for in the first place.”•
