Dreams of Joy: A Novel by Lisa See

On May 15, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Wilfried F. Voss

In her beloved New York Times bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.

Field Gray – An Anti-Nazi Thriller by Philip Kerr

On April 26, 2011, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Bernie Gunther’s past catches up with him in Kerr’s outstanding seventh novel featuring the tough anti-Nazi Berlin PI who survived the Nazi regime (after If the Dead Rise Not). In 1954, Bernie is living quietly in Cuba, doing a little work for underworld boss Meyer Lansky, when he runs afoul of the U.S. Navy and lands in prison in Guantánamo.

The Mighty Walzer: A Novel by Howard Jacobson

On April 3, 2011, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

From the beginning Oliver Walzer is a natural–at ping-pong. Even with his improvised bat (the Collins Classic edition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde) he can chop, flick, half-volley like a champion. At sex he is not a natural, being shy and frightened of women, but with tuition from Sheeny Waxman, fellow member of the Akiva Social Club Table Tennis team, his game improves. And while the Akiva boys teach him everything he needs to know about ping-pong, his father, Joel Walzer, teaches him everything there is to know about “swag.” Unabashedly autobiographical, this is an hilarious and heartbreaking story of one man’s coming of age in 1950′s Manchester.

Foreign Bodies – A Novel About Jaudaism In Post-World-War-II Europe by Cynthia Ozick

On January 11, 2011, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Ozick’s heady fiction springs from her deep critical involvement in literature, especially her fascination with Henry James, which emboldened her to lift the plot of his masterpiece, The Ambassadors, and recast it in a taut and flaying novel that is utterly her own. It’s 1952, and Bea has lived alone for decades after a fleeting marriage, teaching English to street-tough Bronx boys she much admires even as she covers their compositions with red ink. Haunted by her ex, a composer who decamped to Hollywood and made a fortune writing movie scores, Bea is also long estranged from her wealthy brother, Marvin.

Memoir Of An Autistic Twin by Allen Shawn

On December 1, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

When Allen Shawn and his twin sister, Mary, were two, Mary began exhibiting signs of what would be diagnosed many years later as autism. Understanding Mary and making her life a happy one appeared to be impossible for the Shawns.

Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies

On June 30, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Evans’s lively book seeks, first, to demonstrate that Communists worked, often successfully, to undermine American security during the Cold War. It tries, second, to defend Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the egregious scourge of American Communists and fellow travelers, against those who, in Evans’s (The Theme Is Freedom) view, have unjustly ruined his reputation. On the first point, save for some new details, Evans, a contributing editor to Human Events, treads worn ground.