Books & Fiction: Olivia Laing’s Strange, Sublime Book on the Body

Plus: new poetry by Rachel Hadas and Richie Hofmann; and Virginie Despentes’s Vernon Subutex novels. View in browser | Update your preferences Page-Turner Olivia Laing’s Strange, Sublime Book on the Body “Everybody” is, per the title, an interrogation of bodies, but not in the sense that bodies are usually interrogated. By Katy Waldman Essays & Criticism Under Review The Stinging Provocations of Virginie Despentes In her Vernon Subutex novels, one feels the collapse of a national myth—and a crippling disorientation in its place. By Emily Witt Second Read What Elizabeth Spencer Wanted to Be Remembered For The author of “The Light in the Piazza” believed that her most important work was “The Voice at the Back Door,” a novel about racism in her native Mississippi. By Michael LaPointe Books Briefly Noted “Light Perpetual,” “The Five Wounds,” “A Cure for Darkness,” and “We Had a Little Real Estate Problem.” Poetry Poems “In the Cloud” “I made a list I can’t find now / (where did all my folders go?) / of words my students didn’t know.” By Rachel Hadas Poems “Under Limestone” “It was like desire / entering and possessing you quietly.” By Richie Hofmann More from The New Yorker Dispatch A “DuckTales” Bandit Story One artist went on a crime spree, styling his persona after Scrooge McDuck. By Jeff Maysh Annals of Gastronomy How to Get a Table at Carbone The pandemic disrupted New York’s economy of social exclusion. By Helen Rosner You're receiving this e-mail because you signed up for Books & Fiction from The New Yorker. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.