Books & Fiction: Ishmael Reed Gets the Last Laugh

Plus: Flash Fiction by Johanna Ekström and new poetry by Cynthia Zarin and David Biespiel. View in browser | Update your preferences Profiles Ishmael Reed Gets the Last Laugh America’s most fearless satirist has seen his wildest fictions become reality. By Julian Lucas Essays & Criticism Under Review Lauren Redniss and the Art of the Indescribable In Redniss’s latest book, “Oak Flat,” she confronts her trickiest subject yet: the sanctity of Apache land that, for decades, has been under threat. By Max Norman Books The Women Who Paved the Way for Free Speech and Free Love Anthony Comstock’s crusade against vice constrained the lives of ordinary Americans. His antagonists opened up history for feminists and other activists. By Margaret Talbot Books Briefly Noted “All That She Carried,” “Upper Bohemia,” “The Other Black Girl,” and “Site Fidelity.” Flash Fiction Flash Fiction “Listening for the Click” “It feels like the beginning or the end of a love story. Always either the beginning or the end.” By Johanna Ekström Poetry Poems “Gare Du Nord” “After all these years / I’ve forgotten how to write to you.” By Cynthia Zarin Poems “Sekiu” “When I stopped swirling / Away from who I was / Becoming, I’d look upward.” By David Biespiel More from The New Yorker Photo Booth An Intimate Record of Wyoming in the Early Twentieth Century Lora Webb Nichols created and collected some twenty-four thousand negatives documenting life in her small town. By Sarah Blackwood Culture Desk Before Roy Lichtenstein Went Pop The early works of the artist show that his playful irony was present from the start. By Louis Menand 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.