Michael Harrier is no stranger to violence: At just 8 years old, he witnessed his white supremacist father murder his mother, an incident that sparked a lifetime of guilt and self-harm. After honing his own violent tendencies hunting poachers on the plains of Africa as a teenager, the adult Michael resides in California and makes […]
On the title page a pale-skinned adult clothed in colorful garb stands among a grayscale forest. As the main text starts, the adult—now aged but wearing a similar outfit—walks with a youngster, apparently a grandchild. Observing and enjoying the vibrant, lush natural world around them, the narrator reflects on the different places the family has […]
The best part of Callie McFee’s post-work evening run is chatting with Barney, an unhoused man who always sits on the same park bench on her route. Thanks to her brother, State, a local homicide detective, she’s one of the first people to hear the tragic news of her friend’s fatal shooting. Just as shocking […]
The truck is packed, and the fly-fishing duo jump in and make their way along the river as craggy mountains loom. Step by step, we see Papa and the child connect their rods, add flies, then they walk the trail to the water’s edge. They take in the sights and sounds all around them, and […]
Reporters are always on the hunt for a good story, even while on vacation. Dallas TV journalist Vicky Robeson is ostensibly on a two-week break in California, but thoughts of work are never far behind. Recently promoted to news director, she’s waiting to hear from the higher-ups about her proposed budget, which is coming in […]
A lifelong East Ender who fought in gangs as a boy and whose mother was killed when a German bomb dropped on their house, 45-year-old Harryboy Boas resides in a small room in a scruffy boardinghouse, sleeps with prostitutes, and prides himself on his reading acumen (“This Zola is a terrific writer. He can be […]
Why do we love sports? Well, there’s the existential aspect: We need meaning in life, and sports provides it, at least for some. Then, as scriptwriter Schur and sportswriter Posnanski put it, “Life is lonely, and sports provide community.” What’s more, sports, at least in the authors’ case, allows them to go tearing off to […]
Shortly before her 10-year high school reunion in June 1986, Sara Barlow moves back home to Arlington, Virginia, to apply for a teaching job at that same high school. A flood of memories washes over her, from her brief romance with Devlin Barrie to the still-unsolved murder of classmate Nina Farley. While riding in Devlin’s […]
As Demers’ rhyming text suggests, love occasionally makes parents say ridiculous things: “I great big meal and tiny snack you.” It also stirs overpowering emotions (“And on each clock / My favourite minute / Is every one / That has you in it”). Some of the book’s sentiments are a bit cliched—“And every year / […]
Set in New York City, poet Bush’s novella follows Courtney, a teacher at a private preschool, over the course of one workday. Fresh off a “light nervous breakdown,” Courtney is contending with the ghosts of her past—a divorce; fraught family relationships; the death of her childhood best friend—while attempting to be fully engaged with her […]