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Lily Meyer

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Lily Meyer

Lily Meyer

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'Translating Myself and Others' is a reminder of how alive language can be

Princeton University Press

Review

Books

'Translating Myself and Others' is a reminder of how alive language can be

May 18, 2022 • Jhumpa Lahiri mixes detailed explorations of craft with broader reflections on her own artistic life, as well as the "essential aesthetic and political mission" of translation.

3 nonfiction translations to read this spring

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

3 nonfiction translations to read this spring

March 24, 2022 • It's been rare for non-academic nonfiction to be translated into English — but that's beginning to change. These three books may be academic in the depth of their inquiries — but not in style.

'Checkout 19' follows a life tracked through the lens of books

Riverhead Books

Review

Book Reviews

'Checkout 19' follows a life tracked through the lens of books

March 2, 2022 • The protagonist of Clare-Louise Bennett's novel is a determinedly unfixed and unrooted person who marks time by which writers she has read.

A creation myth in Sheila Heti's 'Pure Colour' has art critics as evolutionary stars

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review

Book Reviews

A creation myth in Sheila Heti's 'Pure Colour' has art critics as evolutionary stars

February 17, 2022 • The novel is simultaneously wise and silly, moving and inscrutable. It is also indisputably working hard to be new.

A true crime writer struggles with his responsibility to the victims in 'Devil House'

MacMillian

Review

Book Reviews

A true crime writer struggles with his responsibility to the victims in 'Devil House'

January 26, 2022 • Novelist John Darnielle — also singer-songwriter with the Mountain Goats — has a hero who wants to honor the victims he's writing about but doesn't much like them.

For Fall, 3 Novels Where Great Translations Make All The Difference

NPR

Review

Book Reviews

For Fall, 3 Novels Where Great Translations Make All The Difference

September 29, 2021 • Sometimes, it's not the author you choose, it's the translator. So we've picked three novels where the translation will help you discover new things about the text, even if you can read the original.

Communication Is The Challenge In This Novel Of Loss And Discovery

Catapult

Review

Books

Communication Is The Challenge In This Novel Of Loss And Discovery

September 23, 2021 • Jon McGregor's new novel follows an expedition guide who suffers a stroke in the middle of an Antarctic ice storm and loses the ability to speak — and the people around him at a loss for what to say.

In 'Civilizations,' Inca Emperor Atahualpa Conquers 16th-Century Spain

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review

Book Reviews

In 'Civilizations,' Inca Emperor Atahualpa Conquers 16th-Century Spain

September 9, 2021 • Laurent Binet seems to genuinely want to know to what extent conquest and the cruelty it inevitably produces are reducible, redeemable, or escapable. He also plainly wants to play around.

'Image Control' Is A Plea For Artistic Ethics In What Author Calls 'Fascist Times'

Image Control: Art, Fascism, and the Right to Resist, by Patrick Nathan Counterpoint hide caption

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Counterpoint

Review

Book Reviews

'Image Control' Is A Plea For Artistic Ethics In What Author Calls 'Fascist Times'

August 30, 2021 • In order to track Patrick Nathan's ideas, one must to get on board with his habit of invoking fascism broadly, emphasizing its aesthetic and imaginative tendencies over its concrete manifestations.

'Real Estate' ls An Elegant Exploration Of The Concept Of — And Desire For — Home

Real Estate: A Living Autobiography, by Deborah Levy Bloomsbury Publishing hide caption

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Bloomsbury Publishing

Review

Book Reviews

'Real Estate' ls An Elegant Exploration Of The Concept Of — And Desire For — Home

August 24, 2021 • The third installment of British writer Deborah Levy's excellent Living Autobiography is largely a book about the collisions of fantasies and real life — or perhaps a synthesis of the two.

CIA Role In Africa Expanded As U.S. Cold War Worries Grew, 'White Malice' Details

White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa, by Susan Williams Public Affairs hide caption

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Public Affairs

Review

Book Reviews

CIA Role In Africa Expanded As U.S. Cold War Worries Grew, 'White Malice' Details

August 12, 2021 • Though Susan Williams' book is framed far too expansively, it overflows with fascinating information, research and bold ideas — especially regarding Congo's first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba.

Still Don't Want To Go Out? Here Are 3 Books For An Inner Journey

Hebe Uhart's drawing of a chimango bird, from Animals. Courtesy of Archipelago Books hide caption

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Courtesy of Archipelago Books

Review

Book Reviews

Still Don't Want To Go Out? Here Are 3 Books For An Inner Journey

June 9, 2021 • Everyone's talking about getting out and about now that the pandemic has calmed — but what if you don't want to? Here are three books in translation that'll help you dig into your own life and mind.

A Bullied Kid Finds Unconventional Freedom In 'Heaven'

Europa Editions

Review

Books

A Bullied Kid Finds Unconventional Freedom In 'Heaven'

May 25, 2021 • Following the success of Breasts and Eggs, Mieko Kawakami's publishers are releasing a beautiful new translation of her 2009 novel Heaven, about an unnamed teen dealing with bullies at school.

'Dead Souls' Is A Smart Book, In Some Ways A Good One — Also, It's Unreadable

Catapult

Review

Book Reviews

'Dead Souls' Is A Smart Book, In Some Ways A Good One — Also, It's Unreadable

May 18, 2021 • English publisher and poet Sam Riviere's debut novel is a long monologue from a poet, disgraced for plagiarism, unburdening himself to a self-obsessed poetry magazine editor in a seedy hotel bar.

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