Critical Notes

Roundup: Steven Pinker, Kate DiCamillo, Diane von Furstenberg, Jane Smiley and more

By Eric Liebetrau

Your reviews seed this roundup; please send items, including new about your new publications and recent honors, to NBCCCritics@gmail.com. Make sure to send links that do not require a subscription or username and password.

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NBCC board member Karen Long named one of the most interesting people of 2015.

Laurie Hertzel profiles Kate DiCamillo. Hertzel also reviews “Russian Tattoo,” by Elena Gorokhova.

Joelle Biele reviews new books by Anne Carson, Anne Michaels, and Matthea Harvey at Boston Review.

NBCC board member Carolyn Kellogg makes “6 Wishes for Books and Publishing in 2015.”

An Art Book Addendum, from Robert Birnbaum. He also takes a look at “Orgasm” by Linda Troeller and Maria Schneider.

Carl Rollyson reviews “American Queen” by John Oller.

Michael Puican reviews “Seven New Generation African Poets.”

NBCC board member Jane Ciabattari picks ten 2015 books to read for her BBC column, including new novels from NBCC winners Toni Morrison, Jane Smiley and Aleksandar Hemon.

Maureen Corrigan: “In 'Death By Pastrami,' Charming Stories of New York's Garment District.”

J. Peder Zane uses Top Ten lists from 150 leading authors to offer new insights into the question, “What is a classic book?”

2013 Nona Balakian winner Katherine A. Powers reviews Adam Nicolson's “Why Homer Matters” for the Barnes and Noble Review.

Karl Wolff reviews “The Greatest Comeback,” by Patrick J. Buchanan at the Driftless Area Review.

Julia M. Klein suggests Jewish-themed books for the Jewish Daily Forward for 2015. Klein also reviews Pamela Katz's “The Partnership.” For the Boston Globe, Klein reviews Phyllis Lee Levin's “The Remarkable Education of John Quincy Adams.”

Meredith Maran reviews Diane von Furstenberg’s “The Woman I Wanted to Be” in the Chicago Tribune.

Scott Porch interviews Steven Pinker about “The Sense of Style” in the Atlantic.

“A Year's Nonfiction,” from Harvey Freedenberg.