And here we go, deeper into fall. Daylight Savings Time looms this weekend, making for shorter days and longer nights; colder temperatures beckon. Does that make it the right time of the year to curl up with a book? Well, sure–but is there ever not a good time of year for that? Among the books we’re most excited about this month are bold riffs on detective fiction, genre-defying narratives, and works of fiction and nonfiction that put politics and culture into sharp relief. Here are some November books (plus a pair from the final days of October) that have caught our eye.
Afternoon Bites: Wolfgang Hilbig, Man Booker Long List, Sarah Davachi’s Latest, Sara Driver, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on a newly-translated book by Wolfgang Hilbig, an interview with Sara Driver, and more.
Vol.1 Brooklyn’s June 2018 Book Preview
As June approaches, the temperatures outside are rising, and various dreams of a long spring are dashed until next year. June also brings with it a host of books we’ve been eager to read for a while now, including new books by longtime favorites, structurally bold works that take literature into new places, and short fiction that ventures into surreal and sinister places. Here’s a look at some of the books we’re most excited about for June.
Afternoon Bites: Paul Yoon’s Latest, Melissa Febos, “Election” Revisited, Brandon Hobson, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on books by Paul Yoon, Brandon Hobson, and Wolfgang Hilbig; an interview with Melissa Febos; and more.
Morning Bites: Translating Wolfgang Hilbig, John Keene, Alexandra Kleeman Interviewed, Molly Tanzer, and More and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on translation, interviews with John Keene and Alexandra Kleeman, and more.
Morning Bites: Janice Lee, Laurie Penny Fiction, Sofia Samatar on Influences, Danielle Dutton’s Playlist, and More
In our morning reading: new writing from Janice Lee and Laurie Penny; interviews with Sofia Samatar, Josh Gondelman, and Michael J. Seidlinger; and much more.
A Totalitarian Unease: A Review of Wolfgang Hilbig’s “The Sleep of the Righteous”
Have you ever felt an essential sense of wrongness in everyday life? Disorientation can be a powerful literary tool, and it’s one that the late German author Wolfgang Hilbig understood well. In his introduction to Wolfgang Hilbig’s 2002 collection The Sleep of the Righteous, László Krasznahorkai described Hilbig’s vision as one where “only the weak, the sensitive, those incapable of bargaining and in no way heroic, can sense the chaos and the surrealism.” These stories deal with fragmented psyches, everyday […]
Afternoon Bites: Carrie Brownstein Interviewed, Dylan Thomas at 100, Joanna Newsom, Wolfgang Hilbig, and More
In our afternoon reading: conversations with Carrie Brownstein, notes on Dylan Thomas, Blake Butler on surreal novels, an interview with Isaac Fitzgerald, and more.