All Book Reviews
'Under the Udala Trees' examines the potential for cruelty in ordinary lifeNigerian author Chinelo Okparanta's first novel starts quietly. Don't be deceived.
'Kin' expresses Pieter Hugo's discomfort with his homeland South AfricaHugo's photgraphs in 'Kin' might best be called thoughtfully uncomfortable.
'Sam Phillips' chronicles the life of the man who incubated rock 'n rollPhillips dreamed of capturing 'the excitement from the music in the cotton fields.'
'The Gratitude Diaries' explains why a grateful heart is a happy heartAn author takes a hard look at gratitude and finds her life transformed.
'S.P.Q.R.' offers a learned, intimate view of ancient RomeThe survival of what Romans wrote about themselves gives Mary Beard’s project its heft.
'This Old Man' displays the charms of New Yorker writer Roger AngellAngell moves with agility between humor, pathos, and playful metaphor, often within the same essay.
'Paradise of the Pacific': a transporting immersion in Hawai‘i’s historySusanna Moore details the tenacity with which Hawai‘i’s native peoples held on to their way of life in the face of colonial exploits.
'Lafayette in the Somewhat United States' brings the French founding father to lifeSarah Vowell trains her irreverent historical imagination on the revolutionary ally who made the American Revolution a global struggle.
'The Big Green Tent' wraps history and literature into a very Russian storyWith both intimacy and cosmic scope, Russian novelist Ludmila Ulitskaya weaves an engaging tale of a group of cold war-era Soviet friends.
'The Spectacle of Skill' reminds us how dazzling critic Robert Hughes could beHughes wrote many kinds of things in a career that spanned four decades – history, commentary, criticism, journalism – but his primary goal was always the same: to entertain, especially while he was educating.
'Young Elizabeth' grasps at the life of Elizabeth II before she was queenWhen it comes to writing a biography of Queen Elizabeth II – a monarch who has never in her life granted a personal interview – guesswork and gossip must play a role.
'Golden Age' brings an end to Jane Smiley's 'Last Hundred Years' trilogySmiley's century-spanning American trilogy reveals itself to be an audacious work of storytelling – and a warning.
'Letters to Vera' showcases the literary love story of the NabokovsAgain and again, Vladimir Nabokov celebrated his ardor for his wife in terms far more inventive than most couples’ sweet nothings.
'The White Road' is a gorgeous odyssey into the history of porcelainAt once meditation, memoir, and travelogue as well as history, 'The White Road' is one of those unclassifiable books that simply astounds with the author’s infectious love of his subject.
'The Sandman: Overture' is a fan’s dream come trueNeil Gaiman’s triumphant return to his famous Sandman character is collected in a deluxe hardcover edition by DC Comics.
'This Gulf of Fire' tells of the quake that rocked a most rational EuropeHow the 18th-century Enlightenment struggled for meaning after a shocking sequence of disasters hit Portugal.
'The Lake House' cleverly unites two missing-person cases, decades apart'The Lake House' is a bookworm’s delight – a carefully thought out mystery full of skillfully drawn characters.
'The Art of the Publisher' is a graceful, intelligent tribute to the world of book publishingThe reflections of Roberto Calasso, head of Milan publishing house Adelphi Edizioni, show deep erudition and critical acuity.
'The Only Street in Paris' captures something essentially FrenchRue des Martyrs is more than just a street. It is, as Sciolino describes, 'a half-mile celebration of [Paris] in all its diversity.'
'Ardennes 1944' offers fresh insight into the Battle of the BulgeReaders who want to understand how the attack unfolded and why it failed will not find a more valuable addition to the literature on World War II.
