These remarks will be classified in The Critic’s Notebook. Unlike a more tightly constructed and formal book review, these notes will possess a larval nature: impressionistic, half-formed, spontaneous. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: The Kindly Ones, by Jonathan Littell
I recently reviewed Joan Frank’s Make It Stay, a story of love and loss set in North California wine country. In the interview, we talk about the writing process, unreliable narrators, and the volatility of literary taste. Continue reading An Interview with Joan Frank
This week in the CCLaP series “On Being Human,” Karl Wolff analyses Samuel Beckett’s groundbreaking “Trilogy,” where the famed avant-garde writer sought the essence of what it is to be human by stripping away the setting, plot, and characters of three small novels in a row. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: On Being Human: The Trilogy, by Samuel Beckett
Karl Wolff reviews Firefly by Severo Sarduy (release date, March 2013), a writer praised by Roland Barthes, for his verbal richness and dreamlike evocation of pre-Castro Cuba. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Firefly, by Severo Sarduy
This week I review “The Passage of Power,” Robert Caro’s 4th volume in his epic biography of Lyndon Johnson. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: The Passage of Power, by Robert Caro
A Spy in the Ruins by Christopher Bernard constructs a postapocalyptic anti-narrative replete with verbal richness, political aggression, and erotic tenderness. Continue reading Critical Appraisals: A Spy in the Ruins, by Christopher Bernard
Today in CCLaP’s “On Being Human,” Karl Wolff’s look at humanity as explained through various famous pieces of pop culture: It’s Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s infamous “Venus in Furs,” the 1870 book that inspired the sexual term ‘masochism.’ Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: On Being Human: Venus in Furs, by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
A limited-run series where I review three books about the Supreme Court of the United States, exploring its historical and ideological conflicts, and the transformations it wrought upon law and society. This week … abortion! Continue reading Monday with the Supremes: Part VI: The Abortion Debate (with Jokes)
This week Karl Wolff reviews “Arming the Luftwaffe” by Daniel Uziel, an account of the development of Nazi era technology and wartime logistics. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: Arming the Luftwaffe, by Daniel Uziel
Back in May, I reviewed The Duke Don’t Dance, by Richard Sharp. It is a historical novel focusing on the lives of several men and women from the Silent Generation. In this interview, I ask Mr. Sharp about the burdens of speaking for a generation, plausible deniability, the writing process, and his favorite writers. Continue reading An Interview with Richard Sharp
The Driftless Area Review 