While most teenagers his age are assiduously studying for college entrance exams, the narrator instead plots the eponymous perfect crime. Sent away by his widowed mother, for whom he has little respect, he lives with his Auntie, a woman he "hates." She could have been...
Re Jane cleverly recasts Jane Eyre as a Korean American from Queens If nothing else, choosing to retell a revered classic as a first novel requires either supreme spunk or reckless fatuity. For Patricia Park – who happens to be a thesis-advisee and protégée of National...
Daughters of the Samurai profiles three remarkable women who influenced modern Japanese history Set aside ample time: You won’t welcome intrusions while reading this unprecedented, true story featuring young Japanese girls who arrived stateside without language or cultural training, and matured into three of the most...
"We have three souls, or so I'd been told. But only in death could I confirm this." Thus begins Canadian author Janie Chang’s debut novel, Three Souls, in which a dead woman will learn about a life that ended too quickly, and how she might...
How much do you know about French literature? Try our quiz! From Anatole France to Émile Zola, French writers are among the most esteemed on the planet. But how well do you know la littérature française? Take our quiz and find out. Published: Christian Science Monitor, April...
What do you know about Asian literature? So you love haiku, can quote from "The Art of War," and have read at least a couple of novels by Salman Rushdie. But do you know enough to ace our Asian lit quiz? Try it and see. Published: Christian...
*STARRED REVIEW Few writers, even the most seasoned, can produce collections of evenly superb stories. Mia Alvar triumphs on her first try. Her nine stories reflect her own peripatetic background (Manila born, Bahrain/New York raised, Harvard/Columbia educated), featuring a cast of immigrants, expats, travelers, runaways, and...
Orhan's Inheritance cleverly intertwines first love, ancient betrayal, secrets, and war crimes At age 8, Aline Ohanesian’s great-grandmother interrupted her seventh viewing of The Sound of Music with a promise: “I have a story, too.” That was the first and last time Ohanesian heard about her Nene’s...
Việt Thanh Nguyễn – Associate Professor at USC in English and American Studies – has a 25-page CV online that highlights countless publications, including articles, essays, book chapters, reviews, blog posts, commentaries, short stories, and more. His accomplishments are numerous: citations, awards, fellowships, etc. All...
This latest from Amit Chaudhuri (Freedom Song; The Immortals) offers minimal plot: a 22-year-old homesick Indian literature student and aspiring poet wakes in his shabby London studio, practices his singing, meets his university tutor, delivers his rent, and visits his uncle Radhesh, with whom he...
'The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot' presents a riveting slice of North Korean history Writing one of the most difficult-to-read books ever – Escape from Camp 14 (2012), about a young man’s harrowing odyssey from North Korea where he was bred as a labor camp slave...
The Buried Giant – the much anticipated seventh novel of Kazuo Ishiguro – does not disappoint The first question readers will most likely be asking about Kazuo Ishiguro’s seventh novel, The Buried Giant, will be, “Is it worth the decade-long wait?” The short answer is a...
'Civilization and its Discontents' highlights the intertwined Pakistani, British, and American roots of Mohsin Hamid Thanks to Haruki Murakami, we won't have to wait as long for Mohsin Hamid’s future novels. Hamid's acclaimed first two, Moth Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, took seven years each. His...
I was bad. I couldn’t keep up with my chaotic new year and kept missing deadlines. Thrity Umrigar got so fed up, she basically said, “This happens now, or not at all.” So you better believe I got my act together long enough for one...
Thrity Umrigar: “It’s a good time to be a writer” Perhaps I shouldn’t admit so blatantly to literary-personality preferences, but I must confess here: Thrity Umrigar is my very favorite person to run into at (dreaded) literary conferences. I know from experience how irreverently entertaining she can...
*STARRED REVIEW Yan Lianke (Dream of Ding Village) has built his substantial career on exposing the surreal absurdity of China's 20th-century tragedies. His latest-in-translation features the 99th district of a reeducation camp, where intellectuals controlled by a maniacally cruel yet innocently naïve child endure merciless conditions...
Happy Are the Happy spins a lively cluster of stories around a Parisian couple and their social network At a spare 160 pages, Yasmina Reza’s latest novel can easily be read in a single sitting. Presented as 21 interlinked short stories whose titles bear the names...
Girls on the Edge Adolescence without instant uploads, 140-character confessions, and constant connectivity was just so last century – survival in the 21st means a whole new set of unfamiliar, unpredictable challenges. In four recent, better-not-miss novels for young adults, four diverse women writers amplify the modern...
*STARRED REVIEW Wan Xin, aka Gugu, is a revered obstetrician who has delivered generations of Gaomi Township citizens over the last half century. Yet for every live birth, she's aborted at least as many pregnancies, proving her patriotism by fervently upholding China's one-child policy; even relatives...
*STARRED REVIEW Debuting mere months after his latest instant bestseller, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, this fable is a surprise addition to Murakami’s addictive oeuvre. After returning his library books, a boy is sent to Room 107 in search of other titles. There...
