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Posts by Hamilton Cain

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Patrick Radden Keefe spins another tantalizing tale, but is he trying too hard to play detective? - The Boston Globe In the early morning of November 29, 2019, a security camera at MI6 headquarters captured a figure leaping from a fifth-floor balcony across the Thames River, close to Vauxhall Bridge. Hours later the...

@praddenkeefe.bsky.social's "London Calling" is a masterclass in narrative craft, raising provocative questions about a writer's role in telling a story. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com, with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/04/a...

2 weeks ago 5 2 0 0
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The 12 New Books You Should Read in April From 'Yesteryear' to 'Transcription,' these are the can't-miss books coming out this month

Happy April, bibliophiles! Here's my "something for everyone" basket of new books, compliments of TIME: time.com/article/2026...

2 weeks ago 5 0 1 0
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Join me, @amandaleekoe, @shteyngart, and @sam__sussman at the #worldvoicesfestival for “Crafting the City,” a @PENworldvoices conversation on May 2nd @ 3:30 PM, Festival Stage, Washington Square South. I guarantee a lively discussion!

worldvoices.pen.org/event/crafti...

3 weeks ago 2 1 0 0
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Crafting the City - PEN World Voices Festival Cities live in our imaginations as sites of possibility. Self-transformation, unexpected encounters, and unforeseen opportunities are all within reach. In the novels of Amanda Lee Koe (Sister Snake), ...

This spring @penamerica.bsky.social is hosting its World Voices festival in NYC and Los Angeles. I'm thrilled to be moderating "Crafting the City" on 5/2. Join us! worldvoices.pen.org/event/crafti...

1 month ago 2 0 0 0
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In Jung Yun’s new novel, a ship of fools that look a lot like us - The Boston Globe Jung Yun captures post-9/11 grief and resolve in her witty, wrenching “All the World Can Hold,” both a rollicking yarn and a shrewd send-up of American culture. She opens her novel on Sunday, Septembe...

The Love Boat has an evil twin! Set on a cruise ship in the aftermath of 9/11, Jung Yun's "All the World Can Hold" probes American escapism amid political strife. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com, with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/04/a...

1 month ago 8 4 0 0
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10 New Books You Should Read in March From Christina Applegate's memoir to Tara Menon's "Under Water"

Cease and desist y'all's doom-scrolling and pick up a book! March into spring with my "something for everyone" basket of ten new titles, courtesy of Time Magazine: time.com/7381423/best...

1 month ago 2 1 0 0
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‘Unread’ Review: A Very Public Education After confessing his illiteracy on TikTok, a fitness influencer discovered that his online audience was ready to help him learn to read.

"The author drops us into an Eden of wonder, where once upon a time we first cracked the codes of Dr. Seuss and 'Goodnight Moon.'" Here my review of Oliver James's "Unread" for @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

1 month ago 2 2 0 0
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In 1970s San Francisco, a Groovy Tale of Sex and Menace

A noir delight, @poingu.bsky.social's "Evil Genius" recounts one young woman's coming-of-age in 1970s San Francisco. Out Tuesday from @eccobooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/b...

2 months ago 4 1 1 0
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5 Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week Our murder’s row of magnificent reviews this week includes Ron Charles on Jonathan Miles’s Eradication, Karan Mahajan on Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives, Alexandra Jacobs on Li…

Cool, thanks @literaryhub.bsky.social ! lithub.com/5-book-revie...

2 months ago 6 1 0 0

To quote the estimable @maris.bsky.social: Burn it all down.

2 months ago 3 0 0 0
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The Best New Books to Read in February From Tayari Jones' Kin to Gisele Pelicot's memoir, here are the best books to read this month

Oyez, bibliophiles: here's my list of ten February books, compliments of TIME: time.com/7362790/best...

2 months ago 2 0 0 0
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Can anything save the soul of a tycoon? In ‘Vigil,’ George Saunders mines empathy, memory, and heart. - The Boston Globe We meet Jill Blaine first as she plummets toward K.J. Boone's Dallas mansion from “the elevation,” a celestial perch where a few select dead usher their charges into the afterlife.

Frequent contributor @hamiltoncain.bsky.social reviewed the latest George Saunders novel, VIGIL, for us. He writes that the book is "thrilling on the page." Read his review in the print @bostonglobe.com on Sunday, or here now.

www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...

3 months ago 5 1 0 0
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Can anything save the soul of a tycoon? In ‘Vigil,’ George Saunders mines empathy, memory, and heart. - The Boston Globe We meet Jill Blaine first as she plummets toward K.J. Boone's Dallas mansion from “the elevation,” a celestial perch where a few select dead usher their charges into the afterlife.

The great George Saunders is back with a masterful second novel, "Vigil," out next week from Random House. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...

3 months ago 5 0 0 0
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Review | A groundbreaking writer finds a novel way to air her grievances Jeanette Winterson’s genre-bending “One Aladdin Two Lamps” channels her anger at patriarchy in a reimagining of “One Thousand and One Nights.”

Jeanette Winterson's "One Aladdin Two Lamps" is a rich if problematic meditation on storytelling, out next week from @groveatlantic.bsky.social. Here's my review for @washingtonpost.com: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2026/0...

3 months ago 3 0 0 0
on On Morrison by Namwali Serpell – On the Seawall

Do y'allselves a favor and preorder @namwalien.bsky.social's "On Morrison," a magisterial close reading of an American master in an age of lit-lite substacks. Out 2/24 from Hogarth. Here's my review for @ronslate.bsky.social's "On the Seawall": www.ronslate.com/on-on-morris...

3 months ago 6 2 0 0

👍

3 months ago 1 0 0 0

Yes! And fun!

3 months ago 1 0 1 0
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The 36 Most Anticipated Books of 2026 The year ahead promises new books from George Saunders, Colson Whitehead, Ann Patchett, Ruth Ozeki, Jesmyn Ward and more

Before we all float away on a tide of eggnog, here's @time.com's preview of 36 anticipated books coming in 2026. Many thanks to Lucy Feldman for the opportunity. time.com/7341767/most...

3 months ago 31 5 1 1
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The 75 best books of 2025 - The Boston Globe From fiction to nonfiction, discover the best books of 2025 with our curated list of 75 titles.

Wrote up 2025 best fiction for @bostonglobe.com with my esteemed fellow critic @hamiltoncain.bsky.social. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/a...

3 months ago 6 3 3 0

Backatcha--so much fun!

3 months ago 1 0 1 0
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The 75 best books of 2025 - The Boston Globe From fiction to nonfiction, discover the best books of 2025 with our curated list of 75 titles.

I had a blast contributing to @bostonglobe.com's "Best Books of 2025" fiction roundup. Thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/a...

3 months ago 6 2 0 0

!

4 months ago 2 0 0 0
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100 Notable Books of 2025

There 'tis. I reviewed 13 of these beauties: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...

4 months ago 7 2 0 0
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Is everything you ever learned about capitalism wrong? - The Boston Globe While scholars have illuminated bits and pieces of this immense narrative, Beckert’s massive volume brings it together with impeccable authority and perspicacity.

I had the pleasure and privilege of reviewing @svenbeckert.bsky.social's landmark "Capitalism: A Global History" for @bostonglobe.com. Out tomorrow from @penguinpress.bsky.social. Thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/a...

4 months ago 11 4 0 0
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Is everything you ever learned about capitalism wrong? - The Boston Globe While scholars have illuminated bits and pieces of this immense narrative, Beckert’s massive volume brings it together with impeccable authority and perspicacity.

Thank you @hamiltoncain.bsky.social for this beautiful review!
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/a...

4 months ago 5 3 0 2

A movie that takes place where you're from. vimeo.com/259103344

4 months ago 2 0 0 0
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5 Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week Our treasure chest of terrific reviews this week includes Robert Pinsky on The Poems of Seamus Heaney, Hanif Abdurraqib on John Edgar Wideman’s Languages of Home, John Banville on Selected Letters …

Thanks, @literaryhub.bsky.social! lithub.com/5-book-revie...

4 months ago 2 1 0 0
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The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 Discover the novels, memoirs, biographies, and more that entertained and enlightened us

I had the great good fortune to work with Lucy Feldman and her team on TIME's "100 Must-Read Books 2025," the perfect holidays gift list for bibliophiles in your lives: time.com/collections/...

5 months ago 8 3 0 0
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In her new story collection, Joy Williams probes the weirdness of the West - The Boston Globe Joy Williams’s stories are set in a liminal space, untethered, grasslands floating among craggy mountains, biker bars and seedy motels and ghosts baked by harsh sunlight.

An American master returns with a collection of eerie, brilliant stories. Here's my review of Joy Williams's "The Pelican Child" for @bostonglobe.com. Out next week from @aaknopf.bsky.social. Many thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/11/a...

5 months ago 4 1 0 0
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Review: Salman Rushdie still at top of his powers with ‘Eleventh Hour’ Fiction: His elegant short fiction probes the shadows of mortality and loss.

The great Salman Rushdie examines mortality from myriad angles in "The Eleventh Hour," a quintet of stories just out from Random House. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/salman-rushd...

5 months ago 3 1 0 0