Elena Ferrante has won the Nobel Prize!
No, she hasn't but I needed a catchy title that combined the two key literary events of the past couple of weeks and Bob Dylan unmasked definitely seemed like second…
Ivan Vladislavic: Double Negative
The latest addition to my website is Ivan Vladislavic's Double Negative. This is Vladislavic's most recent novel and, while a fine work, not quite of the same standard of his…
Bakhtiyar Ali: Ghazalnūs wa bāghakānı̄ khayāl (I Stared at the Night of the City)
The latest addition to my website is Bakhtiyar Ali's Ghazalnūs wa bāghakānı̄ khayāl (I Stared at the Night of the City). This is an absolutely brilliant, complex, long, magic realist…
Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize for Literature
No, this is not a joke. Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize for Literature for 2016. A lot of people are really not going to like this but I…
Youssef Ziedan: عزازيل (Azazeel)
The latest addition to my website is Youssef Ziedan's عزازيل (Azazeel). This is a brilliant book, set in the fifth century A.D., telling the story of Hypa, an Egyptian Christian…
Sara Stridsberg: Beckomberga: Ode till min familj (Gravity of Love)
The latest addition to my website is Sara Stridsberg's Ode till min familj (Gravity of Love). This is Sara Stridsberg's first novel translated into English (another one will be published…
Max Aub: Campo francés [French Camp]
The latest addition to my website is Max Aub's Campo francés [French Camp]. This is the fourth in Max Aub’s six volume Civil War series, El laberinto mágico (The Magic…
Marlen Haushofer: Die Mansarde (The Loft)
The latest addition to my website is Marlen Haushofer's Die Mansarde (The Loft). This is Haushofer's last published novel and a first-class one it is. The unnamed narrator lives in…
Zadie Smith: Swing Time
The latest addition to my website is Zadie Smith's Swing Time, another superb novel from this author. The unnamed narrator is the daughter of a white man and black woman.…
Ramon Saizarbitoria: Martutene (Martutene)
The latest addition to my website is Ramon Saizarbitoria's Martutene (Martutene). This is a mammoth (816 pages) Basque novel, that has claims to being the Great Basque Novel. Primarily, it…