Review by New York Times Review
CRASHED: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World, by Adam Tooze. (Viking, $35.) The crash of 2008, Tooze argues, was caused in both Europe and America, and its impact, he says, has been more political than economic, leading to a continuing wave of nationalism, protectionism and populism throughout most of the West. HITS AND MISSES: Stories, by Simon Rich. (Little, Brown, $25.) This collection of 18 satirical stories - by an author who makes the difficult look so easy you could think of him as the Serena Williams of humor writing - pokes fun at the foibles of millennial culture. Rich is at the height of his craft when he is writing on the border between comedy and tragedy. THE MIDDLEMAN, by Oien Steinhauer. (Minotaur, $27.99.) In this thriller from the creator of "Berlin Station," a revolutionary anticapitalist movement seeks to unite the disaffected of America's red and blue states. FIGHT NO MORE, by Lydia Millet. (Norton, $24.95.) In this shimmering and brilliantly engaged collection - united by a recurring character, a jaded young California real estate agent - Millet explores the complicated definition of home, a place which represents solace and love for some but sorrow and pain for others. A TERRIBLE COUNTRY, by Keith Gessen. (Viking. $26.) The young Russian-American protagonist of Gessen's novel returns to his native Moscow and discovers both misery and magic. Gessen evokes something exceedingly rare in American fiction: genuine male vulnerability. FAMOUS FATHER GIRL: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein, by Jamie Bernstein. (HarperCollins, $28.99.) What was it really like having the charismatic, larger-than-life conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein as a father? It wasn't easy, as this warm but unsparing memoir from his elder daughter reveals; Bernstein could be remote or uncomfortably close, with no boundaries. EMPRESS: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, by Ruby Lai. (Norton, $27.95.) The daughter of Persian immigrants, Nur Jahan became the favorite wife and co-ruler of Jahangir, lord of the Mughal Empire, a patriarchy that dominated much of what is now India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. NO ASHES IN THE FIRE: Coming of Age Black and Free in America, by Darnell L. Moore. (Nation Books, $26.) This searing memoir, by the son of teenage parents in Camden, N. J., tells the story of a childhood in the cross hairs of racism and homophobia. THE REMOVES, by Tatjana Soli. (Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.) A historical novel that intertwines the story of George Armstrong Custer with those of his wife, Libbie, and Anne Cummins, a teenage settler captured by the Cheyenne. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [September 16, 2018]
Review by Booklist Review
Rich has been called one of the funniest writers in America, and that's a fair assessment. Just check out this collection of 18 comic pieces. One story is about a frustrated novelist who discovers that his own unborn baby is writing a soon-to-be best-seller; another features a bottom-feeding agent who takes on an unexpected new client; and another concerns a court jester who fails to recognize something important about himself. There's also a profile of rising-star dictator Adolf Hitler; some ordinary people's reactions to Tom Hanks; and the true story of Paul Revere, as told by his horse. Rich, who's written several other humor collections and novels, including Elliot Allagash (2010), is a nimble writer, able to whip up a side-splittingly funny moment out of the simplest ingredients (a few brief sentences, a couple of lines of dialogue, an offbeat observation) and to to sustain a remarkable level of hilarity from one story to another. Great fun.--David Pitt Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The latest collection from Rich (Spoiled Brats) lives up to its name, gathering 18 tales of varying quality that too often fail to linger beyond their brief page counts. A David vs. Goliath theme appears in several plot lines: in "The Baby," a struggling writer and father-to-be is in a race against time to complete his historical novel when he discovers his unborn son is hard at work on a similar book of his own; "Riding Solo: The Oatsy Story" tells the story of Paul Revere's famous ride from the perspective of his horse, who is left behind after Revere gains celebrity; and "Upward Mobility" pits a personal assistant against his cruel boss for the last available ticket into Heaven. "Adolf Hitler: The GQ Profile" is a smart and darkly humorous skewering of celebrity worship. "Hands," one of the longest and best stories of the bunch, pokes fun at religion to chronicle a competitive monk who decides to elevate his martyrdom over his brethren by cutting off his hands. When Rich slows down, his stories can hold emotional resonance, but one-joke, pithy entries such as "Tom Hanks Stories" and "Physician's Lounge, April 1st" are forgettable. The collection has a punchline-over-prose feeling that's hard to shake. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
Former Saturday Night Live writer Rich boasts a handful of deftly droll story collections (Spoiled Brats), and this latest includes concise, punchy tales that will make you smile when you want relief from mindful reading. A novelist isn't too upset when his study becomes a nursery; he's thrilled when an ultrasound reveals that the fetus is a boy holding a pen and suggests that the baby howls at birth because he wants to do a quick manuscript revision. A young man in thrall to his fiery Hollywood boss, Jack Krieger, finds he has an advantage over Krieger when they are killed in a plane crash and meet Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates. A World War II dictator gets celebrity-style magazine coverage, a jester in 17th-century France gets one-upped by his ever-humble protégé, a monk proves his worth to his brethren but still narrowly avoids getting his hands chopped off for sacrilege, and Paul Revere's horse, Oatsy, resents not getting full credit for their midnight ride; it was his idea, and Revere just hung on for the gallop. In the end, though, says Oatsy, "For a moment, I was happy. I was free." VERDICT These pieces are often more vignette than fully conceived story, and some could have been developed further. Yet they're entertaining if not always laugh-out-loud funny, and, as with Oatsy's tale, often carry a certain sweet poignancy. [See Prepub Alert, 1/22/18.] © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Eighteen new flights of fancy from preternaturally gifted humorist Rich (Spoiled Brats, 2014, etc.).Art, ambition, and Hollywood stardust are at the heart of this new comic collection from Rich, just coming off producing three seasons of sitcom Man Seeking Woman, itself based on his own The Last Girlfriend on Earth (2013). Professional jealousy gets a twist in "The Baby," in which a novelist finds himself competing with his unborn child for literary recognition. The funniest story to read aloud follows in "Riding Solo: The Oatsy Story," in which Paul Revere's unsung horse laments his historical obscurity. Making art is literally addictive in "Relapse," in which a one-hit wonder tries to escape the ugly realities of adulthood. Shades of Christopher Moore's historical slapstick fall over two stories: "Hands," about a Christian monk struggling with his own ethical deficits, and "The Great Jester," a Python-esque medieval farce. There are a few frivolities that might have been better left on the cutting-room floor, including the one-joke "Physician's Lounge, April 1st," the simplistic "Tom Hanks Stories," and the self-flagellating satire "The Book of Simon." It's not that Rich can't be acidic: See "Adolf Hitler: The GQ Profile," the mordantly funny "Upward Mobility," or the sheer irony of "Artist's Revenge." But he also has a sweet spot between mockery and respect for old Hollywood that most notably appears in "New Client," in which an old-time talent agent strikes a deal with his last client, and the tartly charming "Stage 13," about a starlet who finally makes good.Lovingly crafted comedies from a writer beginning to match wit with wisdom. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
