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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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October 29, 2020

Magic by Chris Gosden

October 29, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Magic by Chris Gosden

A sweeping new history of magic in human societies.

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October 29, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Myths & Legends, History
Magic, Chris Gosden, history, Steve Donoghue
October 27, 2020

The Masochist by Katja Perat

October 27, 2020/ Jennifer Helinek
The Masochist by Katja Perat

Jennifer Helinek reviews Katia Perat’s debut novel.

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October 27, 2020/ Jennifer Helinek/
Fiction-Translated, Historical Fiction
The Masochist, Katia Perat, fiction, Jennifer Helinek, Slovenian translation, historical fiction, Katja Perat
October 27, 2020

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers - Horace & Seneca

October 27, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers - Horace & Seneca

New considerations of the modern-day relevance of ancient Roman writers Seneca and Horace.

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October 27, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Classic Literature, Philosophy, Nonfiction Translations
Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers, Horace, Seneca, Stephen Harrison, James Romm, classics, Steve Donoghue, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, philosophy
October 23, 2020

Chandrabati's Ramayan

October 23, 2020/ Lakshmi Ajikumar
Chandrabati's Ramayan

Chandrabati’s Ramayan gets an elegant new translation.

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October 23, 2020/ Lakshmi Ajikumar/
Poetry, Fiction-Translated
Chandrabati's Ramayan, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, poetry, Lakshmi Ajikumar, translations, Bengali translation
October 21, 2020

Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters by Rosanna Warren

October 21, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters by Rosanna Warren

One of the unsung founders of Modernism gets a superb new biography.

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October 21, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir
Rosanna Warren, Max Jacob, France, Steve Donoghue, biography
October 20, 2020

Parade: A FolkTale by Hiromi Kawakami

October 20, 2020/ Kate Carberry
Parade: A FolkTale by Hiromi Kawakami

Soft Skull Press issues an intriguing little English-language edition of an Hiromi Kawakami novella.

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October 20, 2020/ Kate Carberry/
Literary Fiction
Parade: A Folktale, Hiromi Kawakami, fiction, Kate Carberry, Japanese fiction
October 19, 2020

The Unfinished Tales of JRR Tolkien

October 19, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Unfinished Tales of JRR Tolkien

For its fortieth anniversary, Christopher Tolkien’s assemblage of his father’s miscellaneous unfinished tales gets a magnificently illustrated new edition.

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October 19, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Anthologies/Short Stories
Unfinished Tales, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, fantasy, Steve Donoghue
October 18, 2020

It’s a Mystery: “The true art of memory is the art of attention”

October 18, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “The true art of memory is the art of attention”

The ninth Vera Stanhope mystery is as fresh and exciting as the first.

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October 18, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
Ann Cleeves, Minotaur Books, It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, Vera Stanhope, mystery series, mystery fiction
October 18, 2020

Phyllostomid Bats: A Unique Mammalian Radiation

October 18, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Phyllostomid Bats: A Unique Mammalian Radiation

The leaf-nosed bats of the New World get a glorious volume.

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October 18, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Theodore Fleming, Liliana Davalos, Marco Mello, bats, natural history, nature, Steve Donoghue, University of Chicago Press
October 17, 2020

Screwball: Review of Darin Strauss’ “The Queen of Tuesday”

October 17, 2020/ Michael Adams
Screwball: Review of Darin Strauss’ “The Queen of Tuesday”

Did Grandpa have a Ball? A novelist weaves a bit of family lore into a colorful and touching mid-century tapestry.

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October 17, 2020/ Michael Adams/
Fiction-General
Lucille Ball, television, Darin Strauss, Penguin Random House, Michael Adams, biographical fiction
October 16, 2020

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

October 16, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

Columnist and CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria speculates on the future of a plague-ravaged world.

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October 16, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Politics & Economics, Science/Technology
Fareed Zakaria, WW Norton, pandemic, COVID-19, Steve Donoghue, politics
October 12, 2020

Philip and Alexander by Adrian Goldsworthy

October 12, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Philip and Alexander by Adrian Goldsworthy

Bestselling historian Adrian Goldsworthy tells the dual story of Philip of Macedon and his famous son.

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October 12, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Adrian Goldsworthy, Philip and Alexander, Alexander the Great, ancient history, history, History, Steve Donoghue
October 08, 2020

Stalin by Ronald Grigor Suny

October 08, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Stalin by Ronald Grigor Suny

A sweeping account of an idealistic young man transformed into a ruthless dictator.

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October 08, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Joseph Stalin, Russian history, dictators, biography, history, Steve Donoghue, Ronald Grigor Suny
October 06, 2020

The Last Brahmin by Luke A. Nichter

October 06, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Last Brahmin by Luke A. Nichter

An examination of the wide-ranging and varied political influence wielded by Henry Cabot Lodge.

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October 06, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Luke A. Nichter, Yale University Press, Henry Cabot Lodge, American politics, biography, history, Steve Donoghue
October 03, 2020

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

October 03, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The slim new novel by author of “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell” is about a man living in a house that’s an ecology unto itself.

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October 03, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Susanna Clarke, fiction, fantasy, Steve Donoghue
October 01, 2020

Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow

October 01, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow

A new book by the man spearheading the drive to bring beavers back to English waterways.

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October 01, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Derek Gow, Chelsea Green Publishing, Steve Donoghue, animals, nature, environment
September 30, 2020

Rage by Bob Woodward

September 30, 2020/ David Murphy
Rage by Bob Woodward

Celebrated journalist Bob Woodward’s already-infamous new book gives an inside look at the Trump White House.

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September 30, 2020/ David Murphy/
Politics & Economics
Bob Woodward, Donald Trump, David Murphy, politics, American Presidents
September 24, 2020

It’s a Mystery:  “Funny thing about doubt—it marches into your brain and sets up camp without any invitation”

September 24, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery:  “Funny thing about doubt—it marches into your brain and sets up camp without any invitation”

A compelling variation on a locked-room mystery with high level tension that never lets up.

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September 24, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
James R. Benn, Soho Crime, mystery fiction, It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, mystery series
September 23, 2020

King of the World by Philip Mansel

September 23, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
King of the World by Philip Mansel

An opulent new biography gives a more internationally-minded view of France’s inimitable Sun King.

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September 23, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
History
King of the World, King Louis XIV, French history, history, Steve Donoghue, University of Chicago Press
September 17, 2020

It’s a Mystery: “Murder, I have often noticed, is a great matchmaker.”

September 17, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “Murder, I have often noticed, is a great matchmaker.”

A masterfully plotted, mind-bending thriller that harkens back to the days when Agatha Christie ruled the genre.

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September 17, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
Irma Heldman, It's a Mystery, Sophie Hannah, mystery series, mystery fiction, detective fiction, Agatha Christie
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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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