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Juan Vidal

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Juan Vidal

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Saturday June 6, 2020

Marcus Ramberg

Your Bookshelf May Be Part Of The Problem

June 6, 2020 • Anti-racist reading lists are making the rounds right now — and they can be useful if people do the work of reading. But critic Juan Vidal suggests you look closer to home, to your own bookshelf.

Sunday December 2, 2018

Review

Tell Them Of 'Battles, Kings,' And Michelangelo On The Bosporus

December 2, 2018 • Mathias Énard's novel — newly translated from French — imagines what would have happened if Michelangelo had accepted an offer from the Ottoman ruler to design a bridge across the Golden Horn.

Wednesday August 8, 2018

Review

'Marvellous Equations' Pulses With Rhythmic Power

August 8, 2018 • Marcia Douglas's new book imagines a resurrected Bob Marley, living in a clock tower and conversing with spirits — but Douglas also honors and elevates the voices of the women in Marley's orbit.

Sunday February 18, 2018

'Manuscripts' Encourages Readers To Approach The Bible Like A Novel

The Manuscripts version of the Bible abandons chapter and verse structure, encouraging readers to approach it like a novel. Jesse Tyler hide caption

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Jesse Tyler

'Manuscripts' Encourages Readers To Approach The Bible Like A Novel

February 18, 2018 • The Bible's famous verse and chapter structure is relatively recent — and surprisingly unpopular. And a new version out now aims to make it more approachable by structuring it like any other book.

Thursday January 18, 2018

In 'Heartland,' Writer's Block Can Be Murder

'Heartland' By Ana Simo. Restless Books hide caption

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Restless Books

Review

In 'Heartland,' Writer's Block Can Be Murder

January 18, 2018 • Ana Simo's brash and unsettling debut novel straddles the line between pulp noir and slapstick; it's the story of a struggling writer who decides that murder is the cure for her decade-long block.

Sunday December 25, 2016

Review

Get A Global Perspective With 5 Of The Year's Best Books In Translation

December 25, 2016 • Small publishers and big indie powerhouses alike showcased international voices this year — we pick out a few of our favorites, from a bitter marriage drama to the memoirs of a polar bear family.

Saturday November 26, 2016

ullstein bild/Getty Images

100 Years After Jack London's Death, Hearing His Call

November 26, 2016 • Jack London died 100 years ago this week, worn out from drink, disease and overwork — but he left behind a prolific body of work that considers the vast scope of human experience and suffering.

Saturday October 22, 2016

From Pamplona, With Love: 'The Sun Also' Turns 90

Ernest Hemingway: Not just some old white guy going on about a crusty fisherman. Lloyd Arnold/Getty Images hide caption

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Lloyd Arnold/Getty Images

From Pamplona, With Love: 'The Sun Also' Turns 90

October 22, 2016 • Ernest Hemingway's masterful first novel came out 90 years ago today; the story of aimless American expatriates drinking, fighting and falling in and out of love is regarded as one of his best works.

Saturday September 24, 2016

A Cartoonist Confronts The Power Of His Pen In 'Reputations'

Reputations by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Raquel Zaldivar/NPR) Raquel Zaldivar/NPR hide caption

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Raquel Zaldivar/NPR

Review

A Cartoonist Confronts The Power Of His Pen In 'Reputations'

September 24, 2016 • Juan Gabriel Vásquez's new novel centers on a respected and feared political cartoonist whose past comes back to haunt him after he receives a threatening letter. It's a powerful, concentrated work.

Sunday September 18, 2016

Off The Campaign Trail, Onto The Gridiron: 5 Sports Books For Fall

Fall sports season is kicking off — and we've got some good reads to go with it. Getty Images/Mint Images RF hide caption

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Getty Images/Mint Images RF

Review

Off The Campaign Trail, Onto The Gridiron: 5 Sports Books For Fall

September 18, 2016 • If you're tired of political competition, there's always athletic competition. And if your team stinks, we can offer sympathy and a selection of the year's best books about sports to ease the sting.

Friday August 5, 2016

Sadeugra/Getty Images

Review

Friday Reads: 5 Rings, 5 Books For Rio

August 5, 2016 • You might be forgiven for knowing only one Brazilian author — Paulo Coelho dominates the charts. But we've got five more great, overlooked Brazilian reads for you to kick off the Rio Games with.

Saturday July 23, 2016

'Multiple Choice' Is A) A Novel, B) In Test Form, C) Fascinating, D) All Of The Above

Ruby Wallau

Review

'Multiple Choice' Is A) A Novel, B) In Test Form, C) Fascinating, D) All Of The Above

July 23, 2016 • Alejandro Zambra's playful new novel is fashioned in the format of Chile's Academic Aptitude Test, the standardized exam high school students there take — complete with multiple choice questions.

Saturday June 11, 2016

The Future Of Cuban Sci-Fi Is 'Super Extra Grande'

Claire Harbage

Review

The Future Of Cuban Sci-Fi Is 'Super Extra Grande'

June 11, 2016 • In Super Extra Grande, Cuban sci-fi author Yoss imagines a world where faster-than-light travel has brought humanity into contact with a vast array of strange and marvelous intergalactic creatures.

Monday June 6, 2016

Muhammad Ali: A Poet In And Out Of The Ring

Muhammad Ali reads one of his poems during a contest at the Bitter End, a Greenwich Village coffeehouse and nightclub, in 1963. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive hide caption

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Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

Muhammad Ali: A Poet In And Out Of The Ring

June 6, 2016 • "The Louisville Lip" was famously as fast with his words as with his fists — years before the birth of hip hop, he was a battle rapper flipping similes and metaphors in a language all his own.

Saturday May 14, 2016

Madness And A Search For Healing In 'Albina And The Dog-Men'

Brandon Chew/NPR

Review

Madness And A Search For Healing In 'Albina And The Dog-Men'

May 14, 2016 • Alejandro Jodorowsky's hallucinatory new novel follows two women on the run — one suffering from a monstrous affliction. Though disturbing in places, it has the feel of an ancient fireside tale.

Sunday April 17, 2016

iStockphoto

You Can Go Home Again: The Transformative Joy Of Rereading

April 17, 2016 • Returning to a book you've read before can feel like getting a drink with an old friend. But even though the book's the same, you yourself may have changed — and that's what makes rereading so rich.

Monday December 21, 2015

A Diamond As Big As The Fitz: 75 Years Later, F. Scott Fitzgerald Shines On

Critic Juan Vidal found this copy of Six Tales of the Jazz Age in a secondhand bookstore. Juan Vidal hide caption

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Juan Vidal

A Diamond As Big As The Fitz: 75 Years Later, F. Scott Fitzgerald Shines On

December 21, 2015 • The bard of America's Jazz Age died 75 years ago today, but his work is as popular as ever. Critic Juan Vidal remembers discovering Fitzgerald's work in a dusty secondhand bookshop.

Sunday December 13, 2015

A Motley Crew On A Wild Pilgrimage In 'Sophia'

Courtesy of Melville House

Review

A Motley Crew On A Wild Pilgrimage In 'Sophia'

December 13, 2015 • Michael Bible's slim new novel follows a jaded, drunken priest and his chess-master sidekick on a cross country journey, along with a crowd of misfits and outliers who help give the book its charm.

Sunday October 25, 2015

Happy (?) Birthday, Gregor Samsa: 'The Metamorphosis' Turns 100

Critic Juan Vidal says this copy of The Metamorphosis, a gift from his uncle, was a life-changing experience. Juan Vidal hide caption

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Juan Vidal

Happy (?) Birthday, Gregor Samsa: 'The Metamorphosis' Turns 100

October 25, 2015 • Critic Juan Vidal says Kafka's classic tale of alienation — published 100 years ago this month — helped bring about a metamorphosis in his own life (though rather more positive than Gregor Samsa's).

Thursday October 8, 2015

Review

These 3 'Judges' Are On The Hunt For Justice

October 8, 2015 • Three novellas by some of Italy's best crime writers make up Judges. Andrea Camilleri, Carlo Lucarelli and Giancarlo De Cataldo weave tales of idealistic judges fighting crime and corruption.

Saturday September 26, 2015

See The Pope On A Slice Of Toast? It's Perfectly Normal, Really

The image of Pope Francis ended up on these slices of toast thanks to a special toaster with metal stencillike inserts. But in most cases where people report seeing faces in their food, their brain is behind the illusion. Katie Colaneri/WHYY hide caption

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Katie Colaneri/WHYY