Interwoven with the stark realism of the novel are hints of a fairy tale. Simultaneously bleak and hopeful, Michael Köhlmeier’s "Yiza" traverses the expansive landscape of human suffering as seen through the eyes of displaced migrant... Read More

Slim, feverish, and grim, the novella eulogizes the darkness of Germany’s history. How well do you know your neighborhood? The earth beneath you? These two questions lead to the cultivated, dream-state prose of Wolfgang Hilbig’s "Old... Read More

On one level, the book is a classic murder mystery; on a deeper level, it echoes humanity at its most primal. Nature may be red in tooth and claw, but in Wajdi Mouawad’s outstanding novel, "Anima", it’s humans who are claw-deep in... Read More

Babel’s remarkable ability to portray self-preservation stands out. Born in Odessa and known for his tragicomic, often violent collages of Jewish characters, Isaac Babel is honored in "The Essential Fictions", a generous volume of... Read More

Eun’s fiction contrasts familial or societal obligations with an undertow of erratic impulse or emotion. Nobody Checks the Time When They’re Happy, a collection of short stories by Heekyung Eun, peers into the lives of various South... Read More

Pugliese deftly turns the dark clouds of imagination into a life-affirming ode. Nicola Pugliese’s unusual "Malacqua" was first published in 1977 by Italo Calvino. Never reprinted until after Pugliese’s death, it appears for the first... Read More

"Beyond the Rice Fields" demonstrates with omniscient sadness mankind’s ability to commit horrific acts. Naivo’s "Beyond the Rice Fields" follows the tumultuous history of nineteenth-century Madagascar and, more closely, the fated... Read More

Boltanski’s intimate tale walks a tightwire between darkness and light, melancholy and joy. When French journalist Christophe Boltanski decided, at the age of thirteen, to live with his grandparents, he entered a world apart. His "The... Read More