Inside the confines of B-Mor, a strictly regimented labor colony populated by the descendants of immigrant workers from Asia, the story of 16-year-old Fan carries the weight of legend. As recounted by the people of B-Mor, Fan’s journey outside the walls of her community, an adventure rife with peril and opportunity, travails and triumphs, has …
The last chapter of Jesmyn Ward’s memoir, “Men We Reaped,” begins with a litany of statistics “about what it means to be Black and poor in the south.” The numbers mount like burdens on an already-bent back: high rates of poverty, incarceration and illiteracy, low rankings in education and standard of living. Each one bows …
Our first glimpse of Regina Gottlieb is as a graduate student in her first days at a prestigious university. Somewhat naïve and more than a little intimidated by the sea of bright lights around her, Regina is drawn to a notorious and notoriously handsome English professor whose reputation has been both burnished and tarnished by …
Taking the leap from a steady job as a staff writer into the uncertain world of freelancing is terrifying, sweat-inducing, exhilarating and in many ways, oddly freeing. Freeing in a way that goes beyond the flexibility, which allows me to continue teaching even as I keep writing. The freedom I’m referring to comes in the …
I remembered being floored and astounded by the verbal dexterity and the heartbreaking story of “Push,” the 1996 novel by Sapphire, which was later made into the movie “Precious.” So I was looking forward to reviewing her follow-up, called “The Kid.” Here is the review I did for the Associated Press: Follow-up to `Push’ provokes, …
I’ve always loved reading as a way to transport myself to new worlds and new cultures. In this book I reviewed for the Associated Press, writer Bharati Mukherjee describes life in a “New India,” where old customs clash with new ways of thinking. Review: Bangalore beckons in ‘Miss New India’ By MONICA RHOR, For The …
There’s something magical about a trip to the ballpark – the cry of the hotdog vendors, the plop of the ball, the leisurely parry-and-thrust rhythm of the game. Ever since my father took me to Shea Stadium long ago to watch the N.Y. Mets play, I’ve been a lover of the game. So, I was …
Here’s the book review I did for the Associated Press of “Great House” by Nicole Krauss: By MONICA RHOR, For The Associated Press “Great House” (W.W. Norton, $24.95), by Nicole Krauss: Is it possible to reconstruct a stolen past through furniture, by reassembling the bits of wood and upholstery and glass that once furnished a life, …
The review I did for the Associated Press of William Gibson’s “Zero History”: `Zero History’ is fascinating tale of branding BY Monica Rhor, For The Associated Press – Mon Sep 13, 6:56 am ET “Zero History” (Putnam, $26.95), by William Gibson: It’s fitting that the latest novel from the man credited with coining the word “cyberspace” is littered with …
This is a review of Anchee Min’s Pearl of China that I wrote for the Associated Press. It’s always nice to see my byline. Once a journalist, always a writer. Min spins fictional account of Buck’s early life By MONICA RHOR, For The Associated Press Mon Mar 29, 12:00 am ET “Pearl of China” (Bloomsbury …