Articles tagged: book review
‘Human Matter’ Dredges up the Dark History of the Guatemalan Civil War
Rodrigo Rey Rosa’s novel has plenty of intrigue, but bumps up against the limits of the autofiction genre.
An explosion in an army depot storing weapons leftover from a brutal civil war unearths a vast archive of secret police documents, whose discovery threatens to ...Read More
Listen to Survivors, Urges a New Book of Essays on Injustice
Lacy Johnson’s lyrical new book of essays grapples with sexual assault, environmental disasters and Donald Trump.
In one of the essays collected in her new book, The Reckonings, Houston writer Lacy Johnson recounts the ancient Greek story of Philomela, an Athenian princess ...Read More
Heartland is an Honest, Poetic Meditation on Class in America
Journalist Sarah Smarsh’s book encapsulates what it’s like to grow up in the forgotten farm fields of America, artfully mixing anecdote with political context and societal commentary.
Having fun during a Kansas winter, as Sarah Smarsh writes in her new memoir, Heartland, requires creativity: “Lots of snow, no hills.” In one memora...Read More
‘The Last Cowboys’ is a Wild Ride All the Way Home
Pulitzer Prize winner John Branch takes a fascinating dive into what it's like to make a living by horseback, both on the range and at the rodeo.
Confession: I’ve never ridden a horse. I’ve never baled hay or branded a steer or helped a cow give birth. Perhaps you think this should disqualify me from ...Read More
‘A Shout in the Ruins’ Contends with the South’s Violent History
Kevin Powers is intent on making us see that wars don’t so much start and stop as they generate and breed.
Recent years have brought a resurgent round of literary and cinematic attention to the brutality of slavery, drawing on the rich tradition of the slave narrativ...Read More
Author Michael Pollan on the Power and Promise of Psychedelics
A rigorous, nerdy, funny and deeply moving book, "How to Change Your Mind" makes a strong case that LSD and mushrooms can do just that.
I admit to feeling an illicit thrill when I opened Michael Pollan’s new book. The third page bears a stern disclaimer, warning that “This book relates the a...Read More
Jorge Ramos’ New Book, ‘Stranger,’ is a Journalist’s Manifesto
"We have to be on the opposite side of power, regardless of who is in the White House, a Democrat or a Republican.”
When Mexican-American journalist Jorge Ramos went mano a mano against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in an Iowa press conference in 2015, he didn’t ...Read More
‘The Natural History of Texas’ Celebrates the State’s Lesser-Known Critters and In-Between Places
At first glance, the book appears to be a textbook. But it soon transforms into a welcome collection of oddities, a bestiary of the strange, unexpected and overlooked.
On December 7, 1941, two events coincided in a wholly unpredictable way. That the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor is household knowledge. Less well known is that...Read More
‘The Most Dangerous Man in America’ is a Pleasant Flashback to One of the Wildest Stories of the ’60s
In this deeply reported new book, two Texas authors interrogate the deeper meaning of Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and LSD.
I was born in 1967. The 1960s, for me and most people my age and younger, are almost purely an abstraction. I’ve familiarized myself with more than a few face...Read More
