Book Review: The Druggist of Auschwitz by Dieter Schlesak

“A human being, like a dog, can get used to anything!”

So says Adam Salmen, a fictional narrator in Dieter Schlesak’s The Druggist of Auschwitz: A Documentary Novel. But what Salmen and others imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II got “used to” is staggering, so much so that it continues to [...]

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Book Review: My Friend Jesus Christ by Lars Husum

Seeking redemption, let alone finding it, can be a long and tortuous path. But what happens if Jesus Christ — or at least a man claiming to be Jesus Christ — is making suggestions here and there? That’s the road on which Nikolaj Jensen is set in Danish writer Lars Husum’s first novel, My Friend [...]

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Book Review: Dakota, Or What’s a Heaven For by Brenda K. Marshall

I’ll be honest. Brenda K. Marshall started out with a couple strikes against her. First, she is from North Dakota. Second, she has since moved to one of those areas where people tend to call this “Dakota,” without regard for north or south, and may either shake their heads or seem astonished to meet someone [...]

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Book Review: Johnny Moon by Mike Palecek

Some historical events take on such significance they become ingrained in a nation’s culture. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is one such event. In part because of the conspiracy theories that have grown up around it, nearly 50 years later we still see a variety of books, both novels and nonfiction, published about [...]

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Book Review: Cain by José Saramago

In an Oxford lecture earlier this year, literary critic James Wood suggested that the “New Atheists” might be well served by looking to the modern novel. He says atheists — and some Christian fundamentalists — insist too much on polemic literalism. Novels, he said, are a vehicle to explore theological arguments and make real the [...]

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Book Review: The Knowledge of Good and Evil by Glenn Kleier

Glenn Kleier’s new novel, The Knowledge of Good and Evil, may confound a few readers. On the one hand, it is a novel of ideas, some rather esoteric. On the other hand, it is an action-based thriller. How a reader reacts may depend on which approach they prefer.

The book is Kleier’s first since the [...]

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Book Review: The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon

In many professions today, there’s a lot of talk about striving for “work-life balance.” Although focused on a balance between our work and personal lives, the ultimate goal is to improve and broaden the quality of life. Yet more than 2,000 years ago Aristotle recognized that balance was the key to living the best life [...]

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eBook Review: Discontents by James Wallace Birch

When I see documentaries or read books about the 1960s, I occasionally can’t help but ponder whether the radicals of the period, such as Abbie Hoffman or Bernadine Dohrn, ever wondered what America would be like today had the change they advocated come to pass. They face the problem all of us do — no [...]

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Book Review: Turbulence by Giles Foden

Using weather as a metaphor can be tricky business. One of the worst sentences I’ve read in years invoked a “restless silver sky.” F. Scott Fitzgerald on the other hand used it to noted effect in The Great Gatsby. The risk for a writer may be even greater when weather is the central allegory.

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Microreview: The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey

I admit to reading this with more than a bit of trepidation. I loved A Million Little Pieces, even after it was shown to be largely fiction. After the two “memoirs,” I wasn’t impressed with Frey’s “first” novel. Add this to the fact The Final Testament of the Holy Bible is about the Messiah returning [...]

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