Monthly Archives: January 2011

Sara Smolinsky is a young Jewish immigrant living in a poor area of New York City with her family in the early 20th century.  Her father, a scholar of the Torah, rules his house like a “tyrant more terrible than … Continue reading →

I read this during Virago Reading Week, hosted by Rachel at Book Snob and Carolyn at A Few of My Favorite Things. I have officially been convinced of the genius of Edith Wharton.  Until recently, I would give her novels … Continue reading →

Odysseus.  There was a man, or was he all a dream? 19.363 So.  I’ve been finished with The Odyssey for weeks.  But I keep thinking, can you ever really be finished with The Odyssey?  Not only because of its impact … Continue reading →

“I am only putting down details which entered me, fragments that were able to part my flesh. It’s a story of things that never existed although even the faintest doubt of that, the smallest possibility, plunges everything into darkness. I … Continue reading →

Burma’s 50 million residents have lived under the rule of a violent authoritarian junta since 1962.  Millions have fled the country, and hundreds of thousands now live in refugee camps along the country’s borders.  Ma Su Mon is an ethnic … Continue reading →

I love Joan Didion’s writing, specifically her nonfiction.  I’d been reading through her work chronologically, but when I reached Salvador, I hesitated.  I thought it would be more overtly political than her two previous collections of essays.  I feared I … Continue reading →