fiction
Hanukkah picks
Eight days of presents? Here are some of my literary picks.
The pains of being present
Jonathan Safran Foer asks what it really means to say, Here I am.
Can war be beautiful?
Fiction and photographs offer nuanced depictions of conflict.
Faith, family, and politics in Nigeria
Two debut novels portray everyday life in Nigerian cities. They also teach Americans about our own culture.
From generation to generation
Yaa Gyasi's novel reveals the freedoms and captivities we all inherit.
Twins with a Nazi doctor
Is it possible for two 12-year-olds to retain their innocence in a place like Auschwitz?
The startling triumph of The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead has created a world as compelling—and as intolerable—as our own.
The political power of a local carrot
By some estimates, three quarters of Americans don't really know their next-door neighbor.
Another Brooklyn, by Jacqueline Woodson
Four teenage girls dance their way into friendship and maturity.
Decent folks next door
Does democracy create good neighbors? Or is it the other way around?
by Tim Brown
Novel exegesis
The lines between sacred history and contemporary life are wonderfully, miraculously blurred.
The literary pastor
One pastor in New Orleans would end every examination by asking, “What is your favorite work of fiction?” The other ministers collectively groaned. But I applauded the question. To be in South Louisiana meant being in a land of stories. As this NYT article observed, South Louisiana is “a place that produces writers the way that France produces cheese—prodigiously, and with world-class excellence.”
Trafficking in ideas
Anthony C. Yu died this spring. I am still discovering the profound influence this teacher had on me.
Countering the darkness: Fiction writer Ron Rash
“I am fascinated by the war between what is best in our natures and what is worst.”
by Amy Frykholm
Something Rich and Strange, by Ron Rash
Ron Rash’s stories emerge from the Smoky Mountains, where his protagonists often reach for a mystery beyond their own understanding.
reviewed by Amy Frykholm
Despair and resistance
Kyle Minor's second collection of short stories follows the success of his first, In the Devil's Territory, with acclaim. It is a beautiful work—and one that I believe promises more than it delivers.