book reviews and features
Naomi Booth: Exit Management review - unwrapping life's unpleasantness
Sunday, 13 September 2020
When you try to get rid of something, it comes back to bite you – so says Naomi Booth in her new novel Exit Management. It’s one of... Read more... |
Gabriel Pogrund & Patrick Maguire: Left Out review - story of Corbynism from 'Glastonbury to catastrophe'
Sunday, 06 September 2020
Readers of Left Out may be surprised to find out how much of party politics is conducted over WhatsApp. The Labour Party under Jeremy... Read more... |
Wayne Holloway-Smith: Love Minus Love review – powerfully excavating the tormented poet's psyche
Sunday, 06 September 2020
Roughly two years since “... Read more... |
Selva Almada: Dead Girls review – the stark proximity of women to violence
Sunday, 06 September 2020
Selva Almada’s newly translated work has a stark title in both English and the original Spanish: Dead Girls, or Chicas Muertas. That apparent bluntness belies the hybrid... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: author Katharina Volckmer
Sunday, 30 August 2020
Katharina Volckmer’s début novel The Appointment follows one woman as she vents her frustrations, confusions and regrets to her doctor during a lengthy appointment in London. Ranging... Read more... |
A. Naji Bakti: Between Beirut and the Moon review - a seriously comical coming of age
Sunday, 30 August 2020
What stands between Beirut and the moon? Between Lebanon’s capital and the limitless possibility beyond? It is a question as complex and immense as the nation itself. In the wake of the... Read more... |
Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai: The Mountains Sing review - a lyrical account of Việt Nam’s brutal past
Sunday, 30 August 2020
“The challenges of the Vietnamese people throughout history are as tall as the tallest mountains. If you stand too close, you won’t be able to see their peaks. Once you step away from the currents... Read more... |
CD: Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith - Peradam
Saturday, 29 August 2020
"The gateway to the invisible must be visible." So intones Patti Smith on the third and final journey in sound with Stephan Crasneanscki and Simone Merli, AKA Soundwalk Collective, musical... Read more... |
Elena Ferrante: The Lying Life of Adults review - a universal Neapolitan adolescence
Sunday, 23 August 2020
The protagonist is a Neapolitan teenage girl; the settings move between the upper and lower parts, from the Vomero... Read more... |
Helen Macdonald: Vesper Flights review - nature lovingly described, nearly lost
Sunday, 23 August 2020
Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald’s first book following her incredibly successful memoir H is for Hawk in 2014, is an excellent collection of short pieces focused on the... Read more... |
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It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
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Screen stardom is generally anointed at the box office so it's a very real delight to find the fast-rising Jonathan Bailey taking time out from...