Babb is the one of the greatest American writers you’ve never heard of, and her novel, Whose Names Are Unknown, is (until recently) an unsung masterpiece. Babb turned in this manuscript to her publisher at the same time John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath hit the shelves, and as a result, it went unpublished until …
In 1960, Steinbeck felt that he no longer intimately understood the country that he had been writing about for most of his life. Travels with Charley is his travelogue that came from his desire to see the country one last time before he died. It’s a rich perspective on America as only Steinbeck can tell it, as …
This piece was originally published on the Island Books blog. Growing up, I loved getting lost in books: It didn’t matter to me if the book was adventurous, dramatic, suspenseful, or fantastical; as long as it transported me somewhere else, I was happy. I’d be so immersed in my book that I’d barely hear my …
The problem: I’m writing a book about California. Not just a story set in a place, but a story of the place itself. A rooted story, one that will sweat California out of its paper pores. One that, with its California pheromones, will ensnare you from the shelf, radiating heat and salt air. The problem …
“How to ever convey in this small space how magnificent this debut fiction is? Words like mesmerizing, poetic, and true all come to mind. To sum: two farm wives, the land, what is remembered, what is sacrificed, what endures. Reminiscent of Willa Cather and John Steinbeck. Hoover’s novel is a haunting, plainsong. Winning and so …
