“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” Salmonella Men on Planet Porno is a collection of surreal, satirical, and often absurd short stories by Yasutaka […]
German literature
While We Were Dreaming
“We were young, we were wild, and we thought we’d live forever.” While We Were Dreaming follows a group of friends in Leipzig during the tumultuous years before […]
German literature
Homecoming
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Chapter 1: Peter Debauer’s Childhood Peter Debauer grows up in post-war Germany, raised by his mother and grandparents. His […]
Russian literature
Day of the Oprichnik
“The Tsar’s word is law, and the law is the Tsar’s word.” Chapter 1: Morning of the Oprichnik The novel opens with Andrei Danilovich Komiaga, a high-ranking oprichnik […]
Russian literature
Daniel Stein, Interpreter
“The truth is always simple, but people complicate it.” The novel Daniel Stein, Interpreter by Lyudmila Ulitskaya follows the life of Daniel Stein, a Polish Jew who survives […]
French literature
The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles
“Life is like a crocodile: it watches you with yellow eyes, waiting for the right moment to strike.” The novel follows the lives of two sisters, Joséphine and […]
French literature
The Waitress Was New
“I was just a waiter, but I saw everything.” Chapter 1: The Café Routine The novel opens with Pierre, an aging waiter, observing the daily rhythms of the […]
French literature
Irène
“The dead don’t speak, but they do tell stories.” Chapter 1: The First Crime Scene Commandant Camille Verhoeven is called to a gruesome murder scene in Paris. A […]
French literature
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
“We think we are passing time, but time is passing us.” Part One: The Elegance of the Hedgehog The novel alternates between the perspectives of two protagonists: Renée […]
American literature
New Moon
“Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in […]