Amy Gentry – Page 3 –

"Little Women" by Louis May Alcott was published in 1868, but it continues to hold its significance today. (AP Photo/Orchard House)

‘The Annotated Little Women’ takes readers behind the scenes of the Alcott and March homes.

May 9, 2019 at 5:52 p.m.

Four sisters sitting around the fireplace complaining about being poor, then resolving to conquer their personal flaws with the help of a 17th-century religious tract: It doesn't sound like a...

An appreciation: Molly Keane’s ‘Good Behaviour’

May 9, 2019 at 5:51 p.m.

"All my life so far I have done everything for the best reasons and the most unselfish motives. I have lived for the people dearest to me, and I am...

Barbara Comyns' writing is dismissed by some as outsider art, but that's missing the mark of this sharp-edged English scribe. The re-release of "Our Spoons Came from Woolworths" is very welcome.

Barbara Comyns’ ‘Our Spoons Came From Woolworths’ re-released

May 9, 2019 at 5:49 p.m.

"Our Spoons Came from Woolworths," newly reissued as a gorgeous NYRB paperback, may strike Barbara Comyns enthusiasts as rather tame. Those who have been enjoying the American renaissance of this...

Stacy Schiff covers the hysteria of the Salem witch trial era in "The Witches." One such trial was 1692 trial of George Jacobs, depicted here.

Review: ‘The Witches’ by Stacy Schiff

May 9, 2019 at 5:48 p.m.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Stacy Schiff's "The Witches" tells the spine-chilling tale of bloodthirsty spirits that still haunt American soil today: righteous ignorance and casuistic self-interest. These are the twin forces...

Mary Gaitskill switches course in ‘The Mare’

May 9, 2019 at 5:47 p.m.

There are those who will be surprised by the subject matter of Mary Gaitskill's latest novel "The Mare," in which a disadvantaged inner-city child bonds with a middle-aged white woman...

Review: ‘100 Years of the Best American Short Stories’

May 9, 2019 at 5:44 p.m.

For the past 100 years, the annual Best American Short Stories anthologies have sought to demonstrate what can be accomplished in that pint of prose we call a short story....

Review: ‘Gold Flame Citrus’ by Claire Vaye Watkins

May 9, 2019 at 5:42 p.m.

In her 2012 debut, the short story collection "Battleborn," Claire Vaye Watkins staked her claim to one of the West's weirdest legacies. The first story, the autobiographical "Ghosts, Cowboys," introduced...

Review: ‘Speak’ by Louisa Hall

May 9, 2019 at 5:41 p.m.

"If there's anything I know, it's that the most human machines will only ever serve to make us more human," says programmer Stephen R. Chinn near the end of Louisa...

Mexican author Valeria Luiselli's new novel, "The Story of My Teeth," employs the names of literary giants, well known and otherwise, to assess how value is created and who benefits.

Review: ‘The Story of My Teeth’ by Valeria Luiselli

May 9, 2019 at 5:41 p.m.

"This is the story of my teeth, and my treatise on collectibles and the variable value of objects," announces narrator Gustavo "Highway" Sanchez Sanchez, the self-proclaimed "best auctioneer in the...

Without the help of its subject, "The Last Love Song" by Tracy Daugherty still reflects a connection with author Joan Didion, seen here in 2012.

Review: ‘The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion’ by Tracy Daugherty

May 9, 2019 at 5:38 p.m.

If there ever were an author who seemed a product of her own language, it is Joan Didion, divine mistress of the careful revelation. Under cover of a first-person persona...

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