In our morning reading: new writing by Terese Svoboda and Rachel Kushner, an excerpt from Niko Stratis’s memoir, and more.
Recommended Books: February 2024
We’re not going to lie: we’re pretty excited for what February has in store for us, books-wise. (We’d even think this if one of our editors didn’t have a novel due out in the second month of 2024.) This month has it all: new books by longtime favorites, a terrific example of punk lit, and a thoughtful work on the state of labor to cap it all off. Here’s a glimpse of what we’re excited about circa now.
Morning Bites: Lars Iyer Interviewed, Terese Svoboda on Writing, David Nance’s New Album, and More
In our morning reading: an interview with Lars Iyer, writing about writing by Terese Svoboda, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Daniel Clowes on Comics, World Fantasy Award Winners, Terese Svoboda Fiction, and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Daniel Clowes, fiction by Terese Svoboda, and more.
Morning Bites: Revisiting Cormac McCarthy, Terese Svoboda and Jim Ruland Conversed, Souled American’s Music, and More
In our morning reading: revisiting Cormac McCarthy’s career, Terese Svoboda and Jim Ruland in conversation, and more.
Weekend Bites: Kate Zambreno Fiction, Terese Svoboda Interviewed, Tariq Goddard on Mark Stewart, and More
In our weekend reading: new work by Kate Zambreno and K Chess, Jennifer Egan interviews Terese Svoboda, and more.
On Ghosts and Absence: A Review of Terese Svoboda’s “Dog on Fire”
“My brother was dead was what I remembered then,” reflects our unnamed narrator, “and I cried a little the way a car does when the ignition’s gone, a click and a grind, something that needs something, that could be stopped only by stopping.” That balky engine seems a defining image for Terese Svoboda’s new novel. Dog on Fire isn’t itself aflame, but rather smoldering: something that needs something. That’s not a criticism⎯ the text delivers an arresting portrait of both melancholy and a way out⎯ but rather a description of what’s lacking for the principal players. Both the grieving sister and her fellow-narrator Aphra, the brother’s lover and one of the only characters with a name, fumble after what psychologists call “closure.”
Afternoon Bites: J.A. Tyler’s Playlist, Ryka Aoki Interviewed, Terese Svoboda’s Latest, and More
In our afternoon reading: a playlist from J.A. Tyler, pondering some new music documentaries, and more.