We’re not going to lie: we’re pretty excited for what February has in store for us, books-wise. (We’d even think this if one of our editors didn’t have a novel due out in the second month of 2024.) This month has it all: new books by longtime favorites, a terrific example of punk lit, and a thoughtful work on the state of labor to cap it all off. Here’s a glimpse of what we’re excited about circa now.
In our morning reading: an interview with Lars Iyer, writing about writing by Terese Svoboda, and more.
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Daniel Clowes, fiction by Terese Svoboda, and more.
In our morning reading: revisiting Cormac McCarthy’s career, Terese Svoboda and Jim Ruland in conversation, and more.
In our weekend reading: new work by Kate Zambreno and K Chess, Jennifer Egan interviews Terese Svoboda, and more.
“My brother was dead was what I remembered then,” reflects our unnamed narrator, “and I cried a little the way a car does when the ignition’s gone, a click and a grind, something that needs something, that could be stopped only by stopping.” That balky engine seems a defining image for Terese Svoboda’s new novel. Dog on Fire isn’t itself aflame, but rather smoldering: something that needs something. That’s not a criticism⎯ the text delivers an arresting portrait of both melancholy and a way out⎯ but rather a description of what’s lacking for the principal players. Both the grieving sister and her fellow-narrator Aphra, the brother’s lover and one of the only characters with a name, fumble after what psychologists call “closure.”
In our afternoon reading: a playlist from J.A. Tyler, pondering some new music documentaries, and more.
Well, it’s March. Seasonal adjustments and clock adjustments, all in the same month. And hey, there are some books due out this month, too! We’ve got our eye on a few new titles in translation, along with some new books on indie presses we like by writers we like. Maybe one of these books will change the way you see the world this month.