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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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April 07, 2018

The Overstory  by Richard Powers

April 07, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Overstory  by Richard Powers

A sweeping novel that uses the natural world to promote activism.

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April 07, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Literary Fiction
Richard Powers, W.W.Norton, nature, imaginative fiction, literary fiction, Steve Donoghue
April 06, 2018

Why Baseball Matters by Susan Jacoby

April 06, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Why Baseball Matters by Susan Jacoby

The real title of Why Baseball Matters might well be How Baseball Survives.

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April 06, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Sports and Recreation
Susan Jacoby, Yale University Press, baseball, sports, American sports, American culture, Steve Donoghue
April 05, 2018

It’s a Mystery: “The moral high ground is nothing but quicksand”

April 05, 2018/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “The moral high ground is nothing but quicksand”

A hard-hitting, gripping, thriller featuring a dynamic and compelling anti-hero.

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April 05, 2018/ Irma Heldman/
It's a Mystery, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Derek Haas, Pegasus Crime, Pegasus Books, Irma Heldman, crime fiction, series, antihero, mystery fiction
April 04, 2018

The Law of Blood: Thinking and Acting as a Nazi by Johann Chapoutot

April 04, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Law of Blood: Thinking and Acting as a Nazi by Johann Chapoutot

The Law of Blood does invigorating work in attempting to explain how such a wildly repulsive ideology could take hold in the hearts and minds of ordinary people.

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April 04, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Nonfiction Translations
Johann Chapoutot, Miranda Richmond Mouillot, Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, Germany, World War II, Nazism, Steve Donoghue, History, translations
April 03, 2018

Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age: 1805-1810 by Michael Broers

April 03, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age: 1805-1810 by Michael Broers

Based on Napoleon's correspondence, this is the second of a three volume life of Napoleon that moves through many well-known landmarks of these five years. 

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April 03, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir
Michael Broers, Pegasus Books, biography, European history, military history, Steve Donoghue, History
April 02, 2018

Belief by James E. Alcock

April 02, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Belief by James E. Alcock

An examination of our thoughts and feelings about the world as we believe it to be.

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April 02, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Philosophy, Religion, Society & Culture
James E. Alcock, Prometheus Books, philosophy, religion, faith, culture, society
March 31, 2018

Rip Crew by Sebastian Rotella

March 31, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Rip Crew by Sebastian Rotella

A high octane international thriller that travels across borders and reveals a vast conspiracy of wealth and power.

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March 31, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers
Rip Crew, Sebastian Rotella, Mulholland Books, crime fiction, thrillers, mystery fiction, Steve Donoghue
March 29, 2018

Dr. Eleanor's Book of Common Spiders

March 29, 2018/ Justin Hickey
Dr. Eleanor's Book of Common Spiders

A witty, accessible, and beautifully illustrated guide to spiders.

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March 29, 2018/ Justin Hickey/
Science/Technology, Animals & Nature
CHristopher M. Buddle, Eleanor Spicer Rice, University of Chicago Press, spiders, insects
March 28, 2018

Waiting for Tomorrow by Nathacha Appanah

March 28, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Waiting for Tomorrow by Nathacha Appanah

A smart and sure standout in the lists of English-translated literary fiction.

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March 28, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Literary Fiction, Fiction-Translated
Waiting for Tomorrow, Nathacha Appanah, French translation, Graywolf Press, literary fiction, Steve Donoghue, translations
March 26, 2018

Absolute Power by Paul Collins

March 26, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Absolute Power by Paul Collins

This lively narrative of religious and political history attempts to chronicle the improbable success story of the last 220 years of the papacy.

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March 26, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Religion
Paul Collins, Public Affairs, theology, religion, Catholicism, the Pope, Roman Catholic Church, Steve Donoghue, History
March 25, 2018

Joe Gould's Secret by Joseph Mitchell

March 25, 2018/ Jack Rowland
Joe Gould's Secret by Joseph Mitchell

Joe Gould’s Secret, Joseph Mitchell’s 1965 book of New Yorker profiles about the eponymous writer, will appeal to all creatives.

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March 25, 2018/ Jack Rowland/
Biography/Memoir
Joe Gould's Secret, Joseph Mitchell, Viking Press, New Yorker, biography, Jack Rowland, writers
March 23, 2018

What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics  by Adam Becker

March 23, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics  by Adam Becker

Becker's book takes readers through epic discoveries and disagreements in physics.

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March 23, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Science/Technology
Adam Becker, Basic Books, quantum physics, physics, science, Schrödinger's Cat, Steve Donoghue
March 22, 2018

The anniversary of a German cult classic

March 22, 2018/ Britta Böhler
The anniversary of a German cult classic

A raw and uncensored tale of child prostitution and teen drug abuse.

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March 22, 2018/ Britta Böhler/
Backlist, Biography/Memoir
Christiane F., Horst Rieck, Kai Hermans, Zest Books, Britta Böhler, biography, backlist, David Bowie, book to film adaptions, movies, child prostitution, substance abuse, drug addiction, Bantam Books
March 21, 2018

St. Petersburg: Madness, Murder, and Art on the Banks of the Neva by Jonathan Miles

March 21, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
St. Petersburg: Madness, Murder, and Art on the Banks of the Neva by Jonathan Miles

An appealingly elastic framework in which to retell the outsized stories of the history of St. Petersburg.

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March 21, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Jonathan Miles, St. Petersburg, Russia, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Lenin, Stalin, biography, Steve Donoghue, History
March 19, 2018

The Château by Paul Goldberg

March 19, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Château by Paul Goldberg

A colorful cast of characters deliver a wild spin on life in Florida, petty crime, Jewish identity, and Trump's America.

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March 19, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
The Château, Paul Goldberg, metafiction, Jews, immigration, modern America, comedy, crime fiction, Jewish fiction, dark comedy, MacMillan Publishers, mystery fiction, Steve Donoghue
March 18, 2018

The Hoarder by Jess Kidd

March 18, 2018/ Britta Böhler
The Hoarder by Jess Kidd

Kidd’s boundless, imaginative powers drive the plot forward in this amateur detective story with a gothic twist.

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March 18, 2018/ Britta Böhler/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Jess Kidd, Canongate, Britta Böhler, gothic, detective fiction, humor, paranormal fiction
March 17, 2018

Glimpse by Jonathan Maberry

March 17, 2018/ Michael Feeney
Glimpse by Jonathan Maberry

Glimpse is a story of recovery, atoning for past mistakes, and facing fears.

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March 17, 2018/ Michael Feeney/
Fiction-Paranormal, Fiction-Crime & Thrillers
Glimpse, Jonathan Maberry, Night of the Living Dead, Michael Feeney, supernatural, thrillers, horror
March 15, 2018

Back Talk: Stories by Danielle Lazarin

March 15, 2018/ Jennifer Helinek
Back Talk: Stories  by Danielle Lazarin

A collection of short stories about women who do and say what’s expected of them, only to turn around and question where those expectations came from.

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March 15, 2018/ Jennifer Helinek/
Literary Fiction
Back Talk: Stories, Danielle Lazarin, short stories, women, women's fiction, literary fiction, Jennifer Helinek, Penguin Random House
March 13, 2018

Death Wish, directed by Eli Roth

March 13, 2018/ Alex Sorondo
Death Wish, directed by Eli Roth

Death Wish  is a movie that, though crafted as escapist entertainment, only makes us more conscious of the real world.

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March 13, 2018/ Alex Sorondo/
Film & Theatre; Adaptations
Death Wish, Eli Roth, Bruce Willis, movies, movie review, Alex Sorondo
March 12, 2018

John Aubrey: My Own Life by Ruth Scurr

March 12, 2018/ Levi Stahl
John Aubrey: My Own Life by Ruth Scurr

In honor of John Aubrey's birthday--his 392nd--we are sharing this appreciation of Ruth Scurr's 2015 biography of Aubrey.

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March 12, 2018/ Levi Stahl/
Backlist, Biography/Memoir
Ruth Scurr, Brief Lives, Miscellanies, Levi Stahl, biography, autobiography, diaries, backlist, John Aubrey
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
Britta Böhler
____________________

Eric Karl Anderson
Olive Fellows
Jack Hanson
Jennifer Helinek
Justin Hickey
Hannah Joyner
Zach Rabiroff
Jessica Tvordi

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