Critical Notes

Roundup: Reviews of Gail Godwin and more; plus Robert Caro and Stephen Colbert discuss LBJ’s penis

By Eric Liebetrau

VIDEO: LBJ's penis and more: 2012 NBCC Biography Award winner Robert Caro gets the Colbert Report treatment.

“A Tale of Remorse that Creeps Under Your Skin”: Maureen Corrigan on Gail Godwin's Flora. At NPR, Corrigan reviews Elanor Dymott's Every Contact Leaves a Trace.

And still more from the Rachel Shteir Chicago-themed books controversy: from the DePaulia; letters to the editor at the New York Times.

Julia M. Klein reviews Z and Beautiful Fools for the Boston Globe. In the Jewish Daily Forward, Klein reviews Vera Gran: The Accused.

Vladimir Alexandrov's The Black Russian (no, not the delicious drink), reviewed by Rayyan Al-Shawaf in the Brooklyn Rail.

In a Boston Globe review, NBCC board member Jane Ciabattari calls Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni “a blend of historic fiction and fantasy with a dash of sci-fi and a sprinkling of philosophical discourse about faith and free will…a continuous delight.”

“Farm Team Saga Hits It Out Of The Park”: Heller McAlpin reviews Lucas Mann's Class A.

2012 NBCC General Nonfiction Award winner Andrew Solomon honored by the Fountain House.