Literary Radar

Articles, book reviews, literary critiques and journalistic reports around books on local and international media.

The Enduring Power of Peter Hujar’s “Portraits in Life and Death” | The New Yorker | 08/10/24

There’s a self-portrait that shows Peter Hujar mid-leap. The picture is taken in a room, presumably in Hujar’s own East Village loft—at a time, 1974, when it was hard to imagine that the words “East Village loft” would ever sound...

How a ‘National Family Secret in France’ Inspired Her Novel | The New York Times | 09/10/24

Cécile Desprairies’s novel, “The Propagandist,” is full of so many secrets that it’s a wonder she managed to write it at all.

In the first place, the book takes an insider’s perspective on occupied France’s collaboration with...

What to See in the 2024 New York Film Festival’s Second Week | The New Yorker | 04/10/24

The New York Film Festival, like all worthwhile festivals, regularly offers the joyous surprise of distinctive new artistic voices, whether those of filmmakers who are just starting out or ones whose previous work hasn’t been...

Alexander Armstrong: ‘People are forgiving of privilege so long as you’re not entitled or tedious’ | Independent | 24/09/24

Alexander Armstrong holds his hands up. “Comedians writing children’s books? Yes, I’m another of those, I’m afraid.” So this month the quiptastic quiz...

Ina Garten’s Memoir of Fortune, Work and Being Obsessed With Her Husband | The New York Times | 28/09/24

Many books open with epigraphs. Maybe Plato, the Bible or Oscar Wilde; usually lofty, and generally by a long-dead stranger.

Ina Garten begins her memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens,” with the following: “Do what you...

2 Books for a Real-Life ‘Brilliant Friend’ | The New York Times | 21/09/24

Dear readers,

Very recently an old friend moved back to Brooklyn after nearly a decade in the South.

In terms of sheer volume of knowledge, she’s one of the people I know best. I remember the breed of large mountain...