Staff Picks, Best of the Decade: Literary Biographies
If you’re able to carve enough time out of your hectic holiday season for some lengthy reading, Nanci “Knuckles” McCloskey has, as a prelude to her best-of-the-decade list, composed a voluminous dialectic concerning the importance of the literary biography. The author deftly examines her compulsion toward the form, while acknowledging the enigma of how and why one [...]
Staff Picks, Best of the Decade: Stories Haunted by Creepy Little Girls
Nothing, absolutely nothing, has more capacity for creepiness than a little girl. Just a quick glance at that Diane Arbus photo will give me nightmares for weeks. Thankfully, Editor Meg Storey has come through with a list of stories that I should avoid reading at all cost–or at least attempt to block from my memory. [...]
Staff Picks: Best of the Decade, Debut Novels
Brian DeLeeuw, assistant editor at the magazine, has published his own debut novel this year. He’s been kind enough to weigh in on his favorites.
Obviously, five “best” is a bit of a misnomer, since I don’t claim to have read even a fraction of all the no-doubt excellent debut novels published in the ’00s. [...]
Staff Picks: Best of the Decade, NYRB Classics
Lance Cleland, our shiny new Assistant Workshop Director and Editorial Assistant, has contributed a list of his favorite re-issues from the New York Review of Books Classics Series. Look for more posts from Cleland in the new year, ’cause he’s the FNG, and FNGs have to do whatever you tell them to.
I had taken [...]
Staff Picks: Best of the Decade, Books in Translation
Editor Rob Spillman weighs in on his five favorite translations from the past ten years:
WAR AND PEACE, by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.
The great novel of the Napoleon excursion into Russia is brought to all its glory by the veteran translators who have been methodically slashing their way through the Russian classics. [...]
Staff Picks: Best of the Decade, New York Art-Show Catalogues
Janet Parker, our beloved art director, spent the better part of the decade in New York before joining us in the Portland office last year. She’s taken a few minutes out her 26-hour workday to weigh in on her favorite NY art shows of the last 10 years, and their corresponding catalogues.
Glitter and Doom show at [...]
Staff Picks: Best of the Decade, Book Club Selections
Continuing with our Best-of-the-Decade top 5 lists, Director of Publicity Deborah Jayne shares the books that sparked the best conversations in her book group.
I chose these books based on the quality of discussion that they lead to as book group books–I read each of them over the last ten years in a now sadly defunct [...]
Staff Picks: Best of the Decade, Essay Collections
As 00’s wrap up, and we move toward those difficult adolescent years of the new century, we’d like to take a moment to look back on the decade that was. In the coming weeks, Tin House staffers will compile lists of their favorite books published over the last ten years. Too avoid repetition, I’ve asked [...]
