Members and friends, we hope you’re having a great August so far! Our members have been busy this past week with reviews of books by authors including Colson Whitehead, Michelle de Krester, Ian Buruma, Daniel Mason, and Oana Aristide, and interviews with writers such as Audrey Niffenegger, Yvonna Russell, and Claire Vaye Watkins. Take care, and thanks for reading!
Member Reviews/Essays
Daniel Mendelsohn wrote about the casting controversy over Christopher Nolan’s The Odysseyfor The New York Times; wrote a review-essay of the film for The New York Review of Books; compared the Iliad and the Odysseyfor Bloomberg; and wrote about the immortal appeal of the Odysseyfor The Free Press.
Charlotte Rosen wrote about how cops consolidated power over local governments for Defector.
Former NBCC President and current advisory board member Jane Ciabattari reviewed NBCC fiction finalist Colson Whitehead’s complete work, including Cool Machine, the last novel in his Harlem trilogy, for Literary Hub.
Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon wrote about Michelle de Krester’s Theory and Practice paired with Rosalind Brown’s Practice for the spring/summer issue of Salmagundi.
Linda Hitchcock reviewed Erin Van Der Meer’s The Scoop and Lee Goldberg’s Murder By Design for BookTrib.
Brian Tanguay reviewed Nation of Strangers by Ece Temelkuran for the California Review of Books.
Tom Peebles reviewed Ian Buruma’s Stay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945 on his personal blog.
Britta Stromeyer reviewed My Dreadful Body, written by Egana Djabbarova and translated from the Russian by Lisa C. Hayden, for The Common.
David Starkey reviewed Wounded Borders by George Singleton for the California Review of Books.
Clea Simon reviewed Daniel Mason’s Country People for The Arts Fuse.
Sarah Johnson reviewed Katy Simpson Smith’s The Maltese Version and Alison Weir’s The Boleyn Secret for Booklist.
Cory Oldweiler reviewed Oana Aristide’s Astronaut!for the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Hope Reese wrote a roundup of the five best books for chronic pain for Oprah Daily.
Tony Miksanek’s review of The Cure for Everything by Michelle A. Williams and Linda Marsa was the American Library Association Booklist‘s featured “Book Review of the Week.”
Paul Wilner wrote about new work from Chang-rae Lee, Malavika Kannan, and Steve Hawk for the Nob Hill Gazette.
Member Interviews
Elaine Szewczyk profiled Audrey Niffenegger for Publishers Weekly.
For the Red Hook Star-Revue, Michael Quinn interviewed actress-turned-author Yvonna Russell about Unfinished Business, her novella about former lovers reconnecting decades after starring in an all-Black soap opera.
Sullivan Summer interviewed writer, editor, and educator Maria Pinto about her book, Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless: What Fungi Taught Me about Nourishment, Poison, Ecology, Hidden Histories, Zombies, and Black Survival, on the Additions to the Archive podcast.
Former NBCC President and current advisory board member Jane Ciabattari’s Literary Hub interview with Claire Vaye Watkins focused on her new novel, Yellow Pine, and her enduring love for the Mojave Desert.
Charles Green interviewed James Baldwin biographer Nicholas Boggs, winner of the NBCC’s John Leonard Prize, for The Gay & Lesbian Review blog.
Member News
Franklin Freeman’s poem “ten directions” was published in The Opiate.
In honor of the upcoming 25th birthday of NBCC member Elizabeth Rosner’s debut novel, The Speed of Light, Reasonable Books in Lafayette, California, is putting together a special celebration that includes a citywide reading of the book this summer. On Sept. 22, at the Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette, they will host an on-stage interview with the author and original bookstore owner, Dave Simpson, who was so excited about the book he offered a money-back-guarantee on the hardcover back in September 2001. Simpson’s tiny store sold 400 copies (with only one return). The ticketed September event will also honor the memory of Ron Shoop, former Random House representative, who championed The Speed of Light from its earliest appearance as a hardcover advance reader edition.
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