Kevin Nance – Page 10

James McGrath Morris on Ethel Payne, ‘Eye on the Struggle’

May 9, 2019 at 5:12 p.m.

Although white Chicagoans knew little about Ethel Payne, a city reporter and later Washington correspondent for the Chicago Defender in the 1950s and '60s, African-Americans here and around the country...

Review: ‘A Spool of Blue Thread’ by Anne Tyler

May 9, 2019 at 5:11 p.m.

There was a time when the favorite way to put down Anne Tyler was to refer to her novels as "middlebrow." Particularly in the 1980s, a decade of triumphs that...

David Treuer's latest novel, "Prudence," is set in and around an Ojibwe reservation during World War II.

David Treuer on ‘Prudence’

May 9, 2019 at 5:09 p.m.

David Treuer is a literary shape-shifter, with each of his novels — including "Little" (1995), "The Hiawatha" (1999) and "The Translation of Dr Apelles: A Love Story" (2006) — using...

Nick Hornby's latest novel, "Funny Girl," is set in London during the Swinging '60s and follows a woman who wants to become the British equivalent of Lucille Ball.

Nick Hornby on ‘Funny Girl’

May 9, 2019 at 5:09 p.m.

From "Are You Being Served?" and "Keeping Up Appearances" to "Fawlty Towers" and "Absolutely Fabulous," Americans have long appreciated British situation comedy with strong female characters. But the history of...

Miranda July's novel, "The First Bad Man," introduces us to a woman who works at a women's self-defense nonprofit and is challenged when her bosses ask if their 20-year-old bombshell daughter can live with her.

Miranda July on ‘The First Bad Man’

May 9, 2019 at 5:07 p.m.

For most writers, publishing a first novel is a professional milestone unlikely to be matched by anything that came before. Not so with the multifaceted Miranda July, whose debut novel,...

The writings of Martin Luther King Jr, seen here at a 1967 peace rally in New York, have been collected by Cornel West in "The Radical King," for which he served as editor and wrote the introduction.

Cornel West on ‘The Radical King’

May 9, 2019 at 5:06 p.m.

Of the words most frequently used to describe the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. today, "radical" is not high on the list. With his insistence on nonviolence, his Southern humility,...

Scott Blackwood on ‘See How Small’

May 9, 2019 at 5:05 p.m.

In the aftermath of any murder, every community is in shock, especially when the victims are innocent and young. The clamor for justice — and for its attendant consolations, resolution...

Harriet Lane on ‘Her’

May 9, 2019 at 5:04 p.m.

Horror stories typically take place in all the expected places: gloomy mansions, torture chambers, dark alleys. We know from Edgar Allan Poe's description of Roderick Usher's house, well before we...

Frederick Barthelme on ‘There Must Be Some Mistake’

May 9, 2019 at 5:03 p.m.

There may be twists and turns in most novels, but things usually turn out more or less the way we expected. Even when there's a big surprise at the end,...

There were a number of 2014 books that flew under Kevin Nance's radar. He pays them their due here.

2014 books that flew under radar

May 9, 2019 at 5:03 p.m.

Newspaper book editors are a tough breed. They have to be, since whatever the satisfactions of their position — I'm sure there are many — they come to the job...

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