Early in "The Italian Executioners", Simon Levis Sullam points out that Italy’s role in the Holocaust is often ignored, thanks both to the worse actions of its Axis counterpart and to revisionist attempts to absolve the country of... Read More

Jacek Dehnel’s "Lala" is a wonderful mosaic of stories about a woman’s unbelievably adventurous youth; they were shared with family members so many times that her children and grandchildren could recite them practically verbatim.... Read More

Illusions and ghosts populate Sara Gallardo’s stories, collected here in "Land of Smoke". These are tales in which a dream come true—a cozy retirement among the flowers; the ability to fly—is apt to quickly become nightmarish, and... Read More

In "Sentimental Tales", Mikhail Zoshchenko masterfully exhibits a playful seriousness. Hilarity flits over a biting satirical indictment of the 1920s Soviet literary scene. As explained across four comical prefaces, the tales are... Read More

Eric Dupont’s family saga "Songs for the Cold of Heart" resurrects ancient storytelling methods, recognizing the fact that if a family’s history is to survive, its stories must be compelling enough to be retold to and by future... Read More

Hermann Hesse’s "Singapore Dream and Other Adventures" is a time capsule of Southeast Asia in the early twentieth century, as well as an intimate diary in which can be found the creative seeds that would germinate in Hesse’s later... Read More

Inspired by the stories of refugees, "Alpha" is a moving and important account of the risks and hardships braved by illegal immigrants seeking a better life. A man’s extraordinary efforts to reunite with his family are the basis of... Read More

Eugene Vodolazkin’s "The Aviator" is an unabashed, panoramic view of the landscape of human consciousness affected by time, place, faith, and faces. Innokenty Petrovich Platonov does not know who he is. Confined to a bed in a... Read More