Author:

A review of Mr Copacabana: An American History by Night by Jim Proser

Monte lived the American Dream and its Nightmare. He frequently had it all and just as frequently had nothing – often, it seems, at the same time. He opened the Copacabana nightclub in New York City in 1940 and for thirty years it remained the centre of the show business world: if a performer could succeed at the Copa, their career was made (and for those on the skids, frequently remade).

Interview with Tom Maremaa

The author of Of Gods, Royals and Superman talks about his new book and how he characterises it, about his characters and how he finds them and brings them to life, his writing process and more.

We have a copy of The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee to giveaway. To win, just sign up for our Free Newsletter on the right hand side of the site.

The winner will be drawn on the first of February from subscribers who enter via the newsletter. Good luck!

A review of The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan

This detox plan is comprehensive, gentle and flexible, providing a fantastic full-body cleanse for anyone willing to commit to the 28-day process. The author is a highly trained Doctor of Natural Medicine and Doctor of Acupuncture. Her dedication to helping others shines through in this holistic cleansing guide.

A review of Sveshnikov vs. the Anti-Sicilians: A Complete Repertoire for Black by Evgeny Sveshnikov

Some 75 theoretically significant games are presented in full, with many featuring Sveshnikov. There are 36 exercises, involving positional and strategic questions as well as tactical puzzles, with full solutions to follow. Apart from one chapter – there are far better ways to meet the Morra than to adopt the remedies given here, in my view – I found Sveshnikov’s analyses impressive.

A review of The Last Wife of Attila the Hun by Joan Schweighardt

The Last Wife of Atilla the Hun manages the perfect balance between the epic setting from which it takes its cue, and the intimate and domestic world that Gudrun finds herself in. Gudrun is cut off from the battlefield from which she only hears news, and unlike Sigrid, doesn’t go on a quest for dragon’s gold.

A Review of Seven by Antonio J. Hopson

During the Crusades, European priests kissed cannons, by way of blessing them, as soldiers marched east to fight what was perceived as the threat of Islam. Instead of cannons, Antonio J. Hopson uses words as his weapon of choice in the poetry collection Seven, and that for the most part focuses on a love affair. “I am a poet. I use words” (Mr. Law, 31). Amazingly, his use of words gives the impression that this affair—at least for him—resembles the carnage of the Crusades.

A review of Fainting with Freedom by Ouyang Yu

Time and again, the poetry confounds expectations and unpicks itself, structurally, grammatically, and linguistically, presenting what looks like a story, a letter, a footnote, a telegram, a Wikipedia entry, a diary entry, or even a simple poem about a single thing, only to undo the stereotype, the perception, or the form, through a reworking of its conventions.

A review of The Snail’s Castle by Mark Gordon

For all its seriousness, The Snail’s Castle has a light, assured tone that makes for compulsive reading. At turns amusing and disturbing, it is among the most literary of literary works, with a deep intelligence that expects its readers also to be intelligent. That is a rare compliment that should be savoured.