ANN LEVIN

This cover image released by Riverhead shows "Audition" by Katie Kitamura. (Riverhead via AP)
Book Review: Katie Kitamura’s new novel about an actor explores idea that ‘all the world’s a stage’
Katie Kitamura begins her latest novel “Audition” in a restaurant where an older woman meets a younger man for lunch. She is an actor in rehearsals for a new play. He is a student who claims to be her son.
 
This book cover image released by Henry Holt shows "Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer" by David Denby. (Henry Holt via AP)
Book Review: David Denby profiles 4 ‘eminent’ Jews who profoundly changed post-WWII American culture
Their names are legend: Mel Brooks, Betty Friedan, Norman Mailer, Leonard Bernstein. In his new book, “Eminent Jews,” David Denby profiles the rich, messy lives of four immensely talented American Jews who threw off the constraints of their immigrant forebears and profoundly changed the tone and ten
 
This book cover image released by Liveright/WW Norton shows "Mona Acts Out" by Mischa Berlinski. (Liveright/WW Norton via AP)
Book Review: A tour de force of a novel about a celebrated actor in the throes of a mid-life crisis
The first act of the novel, “Mona Acts Out,” finds Mona Zahid waking up on Thanksgiving in an apartment filled with guests. The celebrated actor is about to begin rehearsals as Shakespeare’s Cleopatra. She longs to talk to her mentor.
 
This cover image released by Riverhead shows "Rental House" by Weike Wang. (Riverhead via AP)
Book Review: Weike Wang’s 3rd novel ‘Rental House’ finds beauty and humor in a marriage of opposites
Weike Wang’s latest novel, “Rental House,” features an interracial couple, Nate and Keru, who meet-cute at a Halloween party at Yale, fall in love and get married despite their different backgrounds.
 
This cover image released by Mariner Books shows "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" by Naomi Wood. (Mariner via AP)
Book Review: British novelist Naomi Wood is out with an astonishingly good short story collection
“This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” is the debut story collection of the British author Naomi Wood. The stories feature 30-something women trying to have it all — kids, partners, satisfying careers.
 
This cover image released by Scribner shows "Didion & Babitz" by Lili Anolik. (Scribner via AP)
Book Review: A new book about cult favorite Eve Babitz throws shade on reputation of Joan Didion
In 2019. Vanity Fair contributing editor Lili Anolik published “Hollywood’s Eve.” The biography, based on an earlier article in the magazine, helped revive interest in Eve Babitz, a loose, libidinous artist and writer who chronicled Hollywood’s celebrity scene in the 1960s and ’70s.
 
This cover image released by Ecco shows "How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?" by Anna Montague. (Ecco via AP)
Book Review: 70-year-old psychiatrist takes to the road in Anna Montague’s beguiling new novel
Anna Montague has written a road novel with a twist. Her protagonist, Magda Eklund, is a septuagenarian psychiatrist mourning the death of her best friend, Sara.
 
This cover image released by Knopf shows "Don't Be a Stranger" by Susan Minot. (Knopf via AP)
Book Review: Single mother in her 50s falls hard for much younger man in Susan Minot’s latest novel
Ivy Cooper is in her early 50s, a single mother with a young son, Nicky. Ansel Fleming is some 20 years her junior, a touring musician just out of prison.
 
This cover image released by Viking shows "The Women Behind the Door" by Roddy Doyle. (Viking via AP)
Book Review: Paula Spencer is back amid the pandemic lockdown in Roddy Doyle’s brilliant new novel
Paula Spencer, a 66-year-old recovering alcoholic and domestic violence survivor, is back in a new novel by Roddy Doyle, who wrote two earlier books about this feisty Dubliner. This one is set during the Covid lockdown.
 
This book cover image released by Riverhead shows "Feh" by Shalom Auslander. (Riverhead via AP)
Book Review: Call the script doctor! ‘Feh’ explores the toxic storyline of a religious education
Shalom Auslander’s latest memoir is the story of a story. He calls both the book and the story “Feh,” a Yiddish word that translates roughly as “yuck.”
 
This cover image released by Tin House shows "Fire Exit" by Morgan Talty. (Tin House via AP)
Book Review: Indigenous author explores charged issue of blood lines in his debut novel `Fire Exit’
Morgan Talty’s debut novel is narrated by a white man named Charles, who lives across the river from the Penobscot Nation.
 
This cover image released by Penguin shows "The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War,” by James Shapiro. (Penguin via AP)
Book Review: So you think the culture wars are new? Shakespeare expert James Shapiro begs to differ
Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro knows the power of free theater. The Columbia University professor was advising New York’s Public Theater when its 2017 production of “Julius Caesar” sparked an uproar for drawing parallels between the Roman tyrant and Donald Trump.
 
This cover image released by Central Avenue shows "Goyhood" by Reuven Fenton. (Central Avenue via AP)
Book Review: Twin brothers, one religious, one not, go on a wild and wacky road trip through South
Mayer Belkin is deeply engrossed in his study of Torah when he receives some shocking news. His mother has taken her own life, leaving behind a suicide note in which she reveals that Mayer and his twin, David, are not in fact Jewish.
 
This cover image released by Dial Press shows "First Love" by Lilly Dancyger. (Dial Press via AP)
Book Review: Memoirist Lilly Dancyger’s penetrating essays explore the power of female friendships
In 2021 Lilly Dancyger’s first book, “Negative Space,” was praised for its unflinching portrait of her father’s heroin addiction.
 
This cover image released by Knopf shows "Real Americans" by Rachel Khong. (Knopf via AP)
Book Review: Rachel Khong’s new novel ‘Real Americans’ explores race, class and cultural identity
“Real Americans” is a sweeping, multigenerational novel about a Chinese American family. It is divided into three sections, each narrated by a different family member. The first is Lily, the American daughter of Chinese immigrants.
 
This book cover image released by Penguin Random House shows "There's Going to Be Trouble" by Jen Silverman. Penguin Random House via AP)
Book Review: Jen Silverman’s gripping second novel explores the long afterlife of political violence
In 1968, an apolitical grad student at Harvard gets drawn into the takeover of a campus building because he is in love with one of the organizers. When the action goes awry, he is haunted by the deadly consequences.
 
This cover image released by Viking shows "Headshot" by Rita Bullwinkel. (Viking via AP)
Book Review: Debut novel `Headshot’ gives us head shots of the psyches of teenage girl boxers
Rita Bullwinkel’s debut novel “Headshot” takes place in a rundown gym in Nevada, where eight teenage girls are competing in the final rounds of a youth boxing championship.
 
This cover image released by Hogarth shows "Great Expectations" by Vinson Cunningham. (Hogarth via AP)
Book Review: A coming-of-age story of a young Black man who works for an Obama-adjacent candidate
Vinson Cunningham’s day job is writing theater reviews for the New Yorker magazine. Now he has published his first novel, “Great Expectations.”
 
This cover image released by Knopf shows "Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar. (Knopf via AP)
Book Review: Iranian-born Kaveh Akbar pens an unforgettable portrait of the poet as a young man
Kaveh Akbar is an up-and-coming young poet who has won numerous awards for poems that explore themes of spirituality and addiction. Now he has written a novel called “Martyr!”
 
This cover image released by Algonquin Books shows "We Must Not Think of Ourselves" by Lauren Grodstein. (Algonquin via AP)
Book Review: Lauren Grodstein’s masterpiece of historical fiction set in Warsaw Ghetto during WWII
The Oneg Shabbat archive was a secret project of Jews imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto to record their histories as they awaited deportation to Nazi death camps during World War II.
 
This cover image released by Viking shows "Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather" by Benjamin Taylor. (Viking via AP)
Book Review: Benjamin Taylor’s brief new biography of Willa Cather displays the devotion of a fan
Benjamin Taylor has published a brief but illuminating biography of Willa Cather as the nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of her birth.
 
This cover image released by Riverhead Books shows "The Vulnerables" by Sigrid Nunez. (Riverhead Books via AP)
Book Review: Solitary writer ruminates on grief, love and writing during pandemic’s first spring
Sigrid Nunez, the National Book Award-winning author of “The Friend,” has written a pandemic novel called “The Vulnerables.”
 
This cover image released by Avid Reader Press shows "One Woman Show" by Christine Coulson. (Avid Reader Press via AP)
Book Review: Clever new novel uses museum wall labels to narrate life story of rich American woman
Christine Coulson worked for the Metropolitan Museum for 25 years. During that time she wrote short wall labels for works of art in the galleries.
 
This cover image released by Simon & Schuster shows "How to Say Babylon" by Safiya Sinclair. (Simon & Schuster via AP)
Book Review: Poet recalls stormy life growing up Rastafari in Jamaica and her struggle to break free
Safiya Sinclair is a Jamaican-born poet who has written a memoir called “How to Say Babylon.” It’s about surviving her upbringing in a strict Rastafari sect and finding her own voice as an independent woman.
 
This cover image released by Riverhead shows "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store" by James McBride. (Riverhead via AP)
Book Review: James McBride’s latest novel is a tour de force celebrating community and compassion
James McBride has done it again. His new novel, “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” is a gorgeous, ingenious, rollercoaster of a ride that celebrates the values of love and community—heaven and earth.
 
This cover image released by Doubleday shows "Crook Manifesto" by Colson Whitehead. (Doubleday via AP)
Book Review: Colson Whitehead pens entertaining, uneven sequel to 2021 bestseller ‘Harlem Shuffle’
Colson Whitehead is back with a sequel to his 2021 bestseller “Harlem Shuffle.” That irresistible novel, set in the 1960s, introduced Ray Carney, a Harlem furniture dealer with a “slightly bent” side.
 
Review: Tessa Hadley pens subtle, seductive novel of ’60s
The year is 1967, and Phyllis, a 40-year-old homemaker outside London, is getting dressed for dinner. She and her husband, Roger, are expecting Nicholas, the university-age son of an old friend.
 
Review: Vibrant new portrait of artist Helen Frankenthaler
At the start of the 1950s, Helen Frankenthaler was fresh out of college, eager to make a name for herself in the macho New York art world.
 
Review: Wayne does good job building suspense in `Apartment’
In a review of “Apartment,” The Associated Press’ Ann Levin writes that author Teddy Wayne does a good job of building suspense and complicating predictable narratives in the campus novel, set in the MFA program of Columbia’s School of the Arts.
 
Review: Author tells story of overcoming perfectionism
In a review of “Scratched” by Elizabeth Tallent, Ann Levin writes that Tallent’s struggle to overcome perfectionism is a harrowing story, leavened by the author’s dry wit and precise, poetic use of language.
 
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