Critical Notes

Reviews and More From NBCC Members

By Halima Elmajdoubi

Invitation to NBCC awards ceremony

This Thursday is our big night! The NBCC awards ceremony, followed by a reception. First, tomorrow, we’ll have virtual readings from the finalists. Register here if you haven’t already. Meanwhile, our 30 Books in 30 Days series is complete, with original reviews by our prize judges of the finalists. Catch up on all of them at LitHub.

Reviews

For the Chicago Review of Books, Ryan Asmussen reviewed Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood.

Hamilton Cain reviewed Annie Cohen-Solal’s Picasso the Foreigner for the Wall Street Journal.

For the Boston GlobeJeffrey Ann Goudie reviewed Idra Novey’s third novel Take What You Need, and Joan Frank reviewed the novel for the Washington Post.

For Rain Taxi Review of Books’ spring 2023 edition, Chris Barsanti reviewed Christopher Cantwell and Luca Casalanguida’s graphic novel Regarding the Matter of Oswald’s Body.

Kai Maristed reviewed Anne Weber’s Epic Annette: A Heroine’s Tale for the Arts Fuse.

For the Los Angeles Times, Meredith Maran reviewed Priya Guns’ debut novel Your Driver is Waiting.

Irina Dumitresu reviewed Alice Robb’s Don’t Think Dear: On Loving and Leaving Ballet for the Times Literary Supplement.

For America Magazine, Robert Rubsam reviewed The Passenger and Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy.

Jim Schley reviewed Shanta Lee’s Black Metamorphoses for Seven Days.

For Rain Taxi, Stephanie Burt reviewed John Lee Clark’s How to Communicate.

Nell Beram reviewed four books for Shelf Awareness: Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You; Harriet Tyce’s It Ends at Midnight; Ann Beattie’s More to Say: Essays and Appreciations; and Patricia Field’s Pat in the City: My Life of Fashion, Style, and Breaking All the Rules.

Michael Malone reviewed Bono’s Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story for the Pleasantville Examiner.

Michael Quinn reviewed Writing a Chrysanthemum, edited by Rachel Federman, for The Gay and Lesbian Review and the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy’s Forgotten No More for the Red Hook Star Review.

For The New York Journal of Books, Fran Hawthorne reviewed In Search of Amrit Kaur.

Interviews

Colette Bancroft spoke with Jennifer Egan about her book The Candy House for the Tampa Bay Times.

For Chicago Magazine, Kathleen Rooney talked to Rachel Jamison Webster about her latest book Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family.

Grant Faulkner spoke with Gish Jen about her latest collection Thank You, Mr. Nixon for Write-Minded.

For the Nob Hill Gazette, Paul Wilner talked to Elizabeth McKenzie about her newest novel The Dog of the North.

Member News

NBCC member Jamie Brown was recently presented with the first Legacy Award from the Eastern Shores Writers Association (ESWA) for his long-standing contributions to the creative writing community of the mid-Atlantic and the Delmarva Peninsula.

In ZYZZYVA, Regan McMahon wrote a piece in remembrance of Patricia Holt, former NBCC board member and book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle.

SEND US YOUR STUFF: To have your work featured in the weekly Critical Notes, please send your bylines to NBCCcritics@gmail.com. We would be grateful if you would limit submissions to no more than four per week. Please be sure to include the author and full title, the publication, and a working link, along with your name and pronouns. If applicable, please include your twitter handle and we will try to share your work via @bookcritics as our resources allow.

For Galley Bag, please send info and notes on forthcoming books that have piqued your interest, with pub dates at least three months out. 

Thanks!!