Khanh Ha’s Mrs. Rossi’s Dream (2019)

2019-06-03T12:08:56-04:00

Khanh Ha’s third novel, Mrs. Rossi’s Dream (The Permanent Press, 2019) is an ideal companion to Flesh (2012) and The Demon Who Peddled Longing (2014). The reader’s guide is Lê Giang: the story begins and ends with him, in 1987, when he is living in a coastal town in the

Khanh Ha’s Mrs. Rossi’s Dream (2019)2019-06-03T12:08:56-04:00

Andrew Miller’s Now We Shall Be Entirely Free (2018)

2019-03-26T11:31:53-04:00

Discovering Andrew Miller’s work, at this stage of his career, reminds me of the solid sense of anticipation that I felt upon reading Rupert Thomson’s Secrecy (2013). As authors of 8 and 11 novels respectively, I’m surprised that I hadn’t been tempted to read one of their books until

Andrew Miller’s Now We Shall Be Entirely Free (2018)2019-03-26T11:31:53-04:00

Mavis Gallant’s “His Mother” (1973)

2018-12-18T15:14:34-05:00

Mavis Gallant’s first sentences are clear and purposeful: they orient readers and offer a glimpse of the story’s tone. “His mother had come of age in the war and then seemed to live a long greyness like a spun-out November.” Another remarkable aspect of her craft is the way

Mavis Gallant’s “His Mother” (1973)2018-12-18T15:14:34-05:00

In Other Reading

2022-02-10T16:27:49-05:00

Much of September and October were occupied by reading books which appeared on prizelists and a few which I thought might appear there. Most of these I’ve already discussed (a quick way to locate them is through my Autumn 2018 Prizelists and Events page, which collects the relevant posts

In Other Reading2022-02-10T16:27:49-05:00

Mavis Gallant’s “Gabriel Baum 1935-” (1979)

2018-11-28T15:03:06-05:00

When readers meet Gabriel it is 1960 and he is twenty-five years old, fresh from having served in the French army for twenty months in Algeria. “War had never been declared. What Gabriel had engaged in was a long tactical exercise for which there was no compensation except experience.”

Mavis Gallant’s “Gabriel Baum 1935-” (1979)2018-11-28T15:03:06-05:00
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