New York Review Books

Eyal Landesman

It is with great sadness that NYRB notes the death of celebrated Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk. One of the Dor Tashach—the “1948 generation” of writers who came of age during birth of the State of Israel—Kaniuk was fearless about taking on controversial issues. In his early career, his style ran contrary to those of his peers; rather than embracing realism, he reveled in a stream-of-consciousness more akin to surrealism. He valued self-criticism over self-righteousness.

June 11 was the birthday of Betty Jean Lifton, author of Taka-chan and I: A Dog’s Journey to Japan by Runcible. On June 14 we celebrate the birthday of Penelope Farmer, the author of Charlotte Sometimes.

May 20th marks the birthday of Honoré de Balzac, the inventor of the modern realistic novel. With his keen eye for detail and his unflinching assessment of character, Balzac has been considered a literary forbearer of Flaubert, Proust, and James. On May 22nd we celebrate the birthday of the multitalented Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930).

Unnameable Books and NYRB Poets will celebrate the publication of Alexander Vvedensky’s An Invitation for Me to Think with translators Eugene Ostashevsky and Matvei Yankelevich. The reading, which will be followed by a reception, will take place at Unnameable Books in Brooklyn on Friday, May 17, at 7pm.

On Monday, May 6th writers Lev Grossman, Nathaniel Adams, and Jen Vafidis will discuss Kingsley Amis’s newly reissued works of genre fiction, the science fiction/alternative world novel The Alteration and the ghost story The Green Man. Join us at 7pm at the Half King Bar & Restaurant at 505 W 23rd Street in New York City.

On April 20th, Poets House will host a colloquium to celebrate the publication of An Invitation for Me to Think. On April 22nd, the Poetry Project will host a reading.

On Tuesday April 16th at 7pm, Renata Adler will read from and talk about her two classic novels, Speedboat and Pitch Dark, at The Center for Fiction in New York City.

On April 11th at 6pm, an all-star line-up of Richard Sieburth, Michael Kunichika, Eugene Ostashevsky, and Matvei Yankelevich will convene at NYU Humanities Initiative to celebrate the publication of Alexander Vvedensky’s An Invitation For Me to Think (translated by Eugene Ostashevsky, with additional translations by Matvei Yankelevich).

On April 9th at 7pm, Poetry magazine senior editor Don Share will read from and discuss his translation of Miguel Hernández’s poems, published this month in the new NYRB Poets series, at Poets House.

In this past weekend’s Wall Street Journal, Meghan Cox Gurdon wrote, “Many adults have sought over the years to recall the strange, emotionally rich adventure told in The Abandoned. It is these readers—and bookish current children ages 10 and older—who will most appreciate the book’s handsome reissue.”