Vol.1 Brooklyn’s May 2020 Book Preview

May 2020 books

What does May have in store for us, as far as books are concerned? A number of essay collections from some of our favorite writers, for one thing. Throw in some suspenseful novels, a welcome debut, and a book with an introduction from one of our favorite musicians and you have a combination for some terrific reading. Here are some of the books that caught our eye this month.

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A Night in the Pillory: “Should Critics Be Harsh?” Live at the New School

Last night the New School’s Theresa Lang Community Center on West 13th Street held a panel discussion entitled “Should Critics Be Harsh?”  The seminar was moderated by author/professor Christopher Beha (What Happened to Sophie Wilder?), who was joined by Jacob Silverman and Troy Patterson of Slate alongside Salon book critic Laura Miller.  Advertised but not present were author Daniel Mendelsohn and Ruth Franklin of The New Republic.  Mutterings within the audience suggested that Mendelsohn had a gig for the New York Review of Books that he couldn’t get out of, and […]

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Novelists, Affairs, and Endings: “What Happened to Sophie Wilder” Reviewed

What Happened to Sophie Wilder by Christopher R. Beha Tin House; 255 p. Walk into most bookstores of distinction and you’ll find a populous Graham Greene section; the reasons for this are obvious. His novels still inspire considerable discussion and devotion, but Greene’s hand in today’s literature is harder to identify. One can easily detect the influence of the likes of O’Connor, Beckett, or Faulkner on contemporary fiction; traces of Greene’s influence are more elusive. Robert Bingham’s Lightning on the […]

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