A fresh slice of Øyehaug's work, ideal for seekers of spry experimental short fiction.
A collection of 25 formally diverse, wide-ranging short and very short stories from the always surprising Norwegian author.
In her fourth book to be translated into English, once more by Dickson—who handles its sly, fairy-tale–infused, theory-laced trickery with aplomb—Øyehaug again displays her playfulness and attention to form, revealing the literary scaffolding and ropes that support the scenery of the often unstable narrative surface. Beginning the collection (with a truly memorable opening line) is "Birds," in which an ornithologist who has been preparing to defend her thesis loses the piece of her brain that contains all her knowledge of birds. She embarks on a quest to piece back together her ornithological expertise in time for her defense, though what she learns about who she is—or perhaps was—in the process is the more vital and wounding knowledge. In the title story, what begins as a tale about a made-up bus driver and made-up passenger progresses to the "real" story, in which the narrator has broken the sesamoid bones in their feet after, they realize, picking evil flowers ("Oh no, evil flowers, I whispered to myself as I lay there"), which they assure us are very real, though everything else is made up, and though Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal, from which the title is taken, were a metaphor. This leads into a description of Etienne Carjat's famous photograph of Baudelaire and an extrapolation of how Baudelaire might feel about the title of his work being appropriated for such a story. "A Bit Like This" follows, a "story" that consists only of a copy of this photograph, showing Baudelaire looking as described and seemingly displeased with the proceedings, with no caption, credit, or text of any kind. Motifs, imagery, and forms pinball throughout the rest of the collection, making a messily cohesive whole tied together by anxieties, absurdities, and death—but in a fun way.
A fresh slice of Øyehaug's work, ideal for seekers of spry experimental short fiction.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-374-60474-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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