In his 2024 National Book Award-winning novel, ‘James,’ Percival Everett grapples with philosophical and metaphysical questions as well as racial issues, while enveloping all in sarcasm and irony.
Diane Scharper
Diane Scharper teaches poetry and memoir for the Johns Hopkins University Osher Program. She is the author of several books including Radiant, Prayer/Poems.
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Review: Amy Clampitt, the ‘late bloomer’ of poetry
Willard Spiegelman’s probing biography, ‘Nothing Stays Put: The Life and Poetry of Amy Clampitt,’ describes how she rose to meteoric heights in the poetry world relatively late in life.
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Review: Tan Twan Eng’s new novel summons the spirit of Somerset Maugham
Somerset Maugham’s short story “The Letter” serves as the linchpin of Tran Twan Eng’s third novel, “The House of Doors,” which was selected for the 2023 Booker Prize long list.
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Review: Paul Lynch’s new novel offers complexity, not certitude
Paul Lynch’s ‘Prophet Song’ was inspired by the Syrian Civil War and the plight of those seeking refuge from the destruction and death occurring in Syria.
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Review: Geetanjali Shree’s new novel is one woman’s surprising reincarnation story
Frank Wynne, chair of this year’s Booker judges, noted that translating ‘Tomb of Sand’ presented “huge challenges” because the novel is about words, language and storytelling, not just characters and plot. Another judge added that it is “safe to say this [novel] is like nothing else you have ever read.”
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Review: The Sri Lankan civil war story told through poetry, humor and murder mystery
Shehan Karunatilaka’s new novel echoes elements of several all-time classics, including ‘The Divine Comedy,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and almost everything by Kurt Vonnegut, whose voice and vision can be felt throughout.
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Review: South Africa’s answer to William Faulkner
Using present tense, omniscient point of view and a William Faulkner-like stream-of-consciousness, Damon Galgut takes readers into the heads of every character in his new novel.
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Review: African soldiers find kinship in the trenches of World War I
David Diop’s new novel centers on the filial love between two Senegalese riflemen, close childhood friends who joined the French army because they hoped to become French citizens at the end of World War I.
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Review: What does faith have to do with ‘getting it’? It’s a question for the whole family.
Brendan Hodge’s debut novel ‘If You Can Get It’ centers on two young women seeking meaning along the axes of work, love and faith.
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Review: How a family’s faith becomes their downfall
This debut novel by 29-year-old Marieke Lucas Rijneveld won the 2020 International Booker Prize.