 |
Debut
Mischa Berlinski, Fieldwork
Berlinski’s novel is a smart, engaging thriller about anthropologists and missionaries in Thailand that occasionally gets lost in jungles of digression. Honorable mention to Ellen Litman’s charming The Last Chicken in America, about Russian immigrants in Pittsburgh.
Stinker
The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold
Lots of big names underwhelmed us this year: Amis, DeLillo, Roth, Rowling. But Sebold, whose debut novel, The Lovely Bones, was the best-selling book of 2002, went above and beyond—or below and behind. Her wandering story of matricide is both implausible and uncompelling: The voice is wrong, the characterization is off, the pacing is set on shuffle.
Email
Print
Albert Camus and Literary Obsession 
True Blood's Guilty, Addictive Appeal
Brüno Takes Aim at Homophobia 
Summer Food, Drinks, and Outdoor Events
Views, Biking, Art, and More at Governors Island
Marea's Lofty Ambitions and Luxurious Seafood 
Three Make-Ahead Summer Party Menus 
Why Does Ruth Madoff Inspire Such Hate?
Pedro Espada's Constituency of One
NYC Prep Turns New York Into a Joke
Our Annual Guide to Summer in the City
