Author Archives: Kasia Bartoszynska

This book has been lurking in my brain for YEARS. I’ve been wanting to write something about it since I first read it in grad school — it’s been part of this shadow project that I keep thinking I’ll get to, sometime, and I think I even have some old fellowship applications talking about it.ContinueContinue reading “The Informer, Liam O’Flaherty”

A friend posted about randomly getting this from the library and enjoying it and mentioned that one could read it in 20 minutes. A few hours later we were at the library and sure enough they had it, so I brought it home, and sure enough, you can read it in 20 minutes. And it’sContinueContinue reading “Aug 9 — Fog, Kathryn Scanlan”

As I was reading this book (or rather, listening to the audiobook), I get thinking to myself — I’m so glad that Imani Perry has reached a level of prestige where she gets to write whatever she wants. And then I’d question myself — wait, couldn’t I do that too? I mean, seemingly, yes, butContinueContinue reading “Black in Blues, Imani Perry”

I think I saw this on some random Best of 2024 list, and was intrigued because I didn’t see it on any others, and the library had the audiobook, so why not? And I really enjoyed it. It’s the story of a young woman who writes a play that is based on a summer thatContinueContinue reading “The Hypocrite, Jo Hamya”

I was fortunate to be able to see this devastating documentary at my local art house theater, because despite winning an academy award, no US distributor wants to pick it up. Which is pretty damning in itself. It’s hard to watch, though it’s a relatively restrained film, clearly working hard to avoid sensationalism. But it’sContinueContinue reading “No Other Land”

Although the novel grabbed me from its opening sentence, it also sort of snuck up on me, in that I suddenly realized, as I was reading, that I cared an awful lot about the characters and what they were going through — they felt very real. This is especially impressive, because first-person narratives are rarelyContinueContinue reading “Fire Exit, Morgan Talty”

This is a really excellent, concise articulation of complex issues regarding our relationship to the history of slavery, past and present, and the challenges of learning from an archive. It would be a great book to give high schoolers, to invite them to engage critically with how slavery has been presented to them, and toContinueContinue reading “Wake, Rebecca Hall”

One of the students in my graphic novels class last semester recommended this to me, and it is awesome. Part portrait of an emerging artist, part road trip adventure story, part depression memoir, with this wonderfully playful punk rock sensibility. Anything can happen. I was moved, I cackled, and I said “woah!” in fairly equalContinueContinue reading “It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, Zoe Thorogood”

I came to this book knowing absolutely nothing about Elaine May, and so I was, I suppose, very open to being persuaded that she is a misunderstood genius. I remember the Far Side comic about Ishtar (I had to ask my dad to explain it to me), and I guess I had uncritically accepted theContinueContinue reading “Miss May Does Not Exist, Carrie Courogen”

I was pleasantly surprised by how much my students enjoyed Adolphe. I thought they’d find it annoying and dull, but for the most part, they revelled in the philosophical melodrama just as I do — and the ones that didn’t seemed to warm to it in class discussion, as we started picking apart the centralContinueContinue reading “Adolphe, Benjamin Constant”