Tag Archives: Reading Well

Reading Well: American War by Omar El Akkad

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Omar El Akkad‘s debut novel, American War (2017), is an arresting, gripping contribution to the landscape of post-apocalyptic fiction. Here, the disaster is largely environmental: all of Florida and most of the Eastern seaboard is underwater, the US economy is … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

George Saunders‘ much anticipated novel Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) does not disappoint, although it may bewilder. The Lincoln of the title is not Abe, but rather Willie, his son who died at the nadir of his presidency (the Civil … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Reading Well: Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

The most compelling writing in Molly Prentiss‘ debut novel, Tuesday Nights in 1980 (2016), surrounds a synesthetic writer, whose descriptions of the New York art scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s are fantastically vivid and surprising. He is … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Two Quick Things

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Every once in a while, I encounter an artist whose aesthetic fits my own in what feels like a profound way, someone that becomes an instant and enduring favorite. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tord Gustaven‘s piano trio … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I’ve been looking forward to Neil Gaiman‘s Norse Mythology (2017) since it was announced. As long as your expectations are correct, it doesn’t disappoint. Here’s what I mean: this is a very faithful retelling of the well-known tales of Norse legend–the origination … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Reading Well: Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Max Porter‘s Grief is the Thing with Feathers (2015) lives somewhere between a prose poem and a novella, and, in fact, at times feels like the script for a fascinating stage production. It is a short, stunningly creative, and highly evocative … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

We are all about to be submerged by a tidal wave of Nnedi Okorafor. Who Fears Death (read before I started Reading Wells, and highly recommended) is in production by HBO, her Binti series is a critical favorite, etc. The third novel to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Kameron Hurley‘s The Stars are Legion (2017) is a good old-fashioned space opera featuring an exclusively female cast of characters. There is a groundhog-day element at work, as the protagonist has repeatedly failed in an attempt to seize control of (some significant … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Daniel (@MKNN)

History of Wolves (2017) by Emily Fridlund is a fantastic book, certainly one of the best I read this year. It’s a whodunnit that manages to preserve dramatic tension throughout, despite having made “the big reveal” quite early in the book. That … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I’ve been a fan of Louise Erdrich for decades, and remember thinking that Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and Tracks were as fine a sequence of three novels as I had read. I hadn’t read much from her since then–perhaps a couple novels and … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment