Bj枚rn is a new employee at 糖心传媒渢he Authority糖心传媒� at the start of the novel. He describes himself as ambitious and smart, but within a matter of pages, it becomes clear that he糖心传媒檚 unreliable. He reprimands a co-worker for allowing the files on his desk to spill onto Bj枚rn糖心传媒檚, an obvious overreaction. We begin to realize that the whole office is concerned about Bj枚rn糖心传媒檚 strange behavior when the manager, Karl, sends an email to the entire staff that says: 糖心传媒淲e will be putting staffing issues under a microscope.糖心传媒�

What follows Karl糖心传媒檚 email is the revelation that Bj枚rn sees a room nobody else can, and that, while Bj枚rn thinks he is inside the room, he is actually staring at the wall. Karl and the staff confront him about this behavior, but Bj枚rn, so convinced of his own reality, insists that everyone else is delusional or conspiring against him.

Karl asks Bj枚rn to get professional mental-health counseling. Bj枚rn does, but it doesn糖心传媒檛 help. Then Bj枚rn discovers that being in the room allows him to do advanced-level work, he uses the subsequent boost in productivity as leverage. The tables turn; Bj枚rn is now able to force the rest of the office to accept that a room that does not exist, does. The door becomes a metaphor for the ridiculous lows to which office culture can stoop.

As a narrator, Bj枚rn comes across as an arrogant know-it-all, but what prevents him from becoming insufferable is his isolation. When he糖心传媒檚 at home alone, he paints a sad picture: 糖心传媒淚 put on a CD of Mozart糖心传媒檚 Piano Concerto No. 21, but soon swapped it for one of Sting糖心传媒檚 albums, only to switch to Dire Straits and then John Cougar Mellencamp. I didn糖心传媒檛 really feel like listening to any of them, but liked the idea of associating with the very best.糖心传媒�

Who is he trying to impress? Here Bj枚rn is trying to convince himself he糖心传媒檚 closer to his idea of an admirable person, but he knows he糖心传媒檚 falling short. He hurts, but the pain is buried. So when he says, 糖心传媒淚nhibited people don糖心传媒檛 see the world the way it really is. They only see what they themselves want to see,糖心传媒� we realize better than he does that he糖心传媒檚 speaking about himself.

The Room is more than the story of an office nutcase. It糖心传媒檚 a hilarious portrait of corporate culture, which allows strong personalities to force rational people to accept (or at least tolerate) irrational ideas.

Peter Biello is the host of All Things Considered at New Hampshire Public Radio. He has served as a producer/announcer/host of Weekend Edition Saturday at Vermont Public Radio and as a reporter/host of Morning Edition at WHQR in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Here’s the beginning of Peter’s review:

If you糖心传媒檝e ever worked in a corporate office, you糖心传媒檝e likely heard the phrase, 糖心传媒淧erception is reality.糖心传媒� To Bj枚rn, the office worker who narrates Jonas Karlsson糖心传媒檚 novel The Room, the reality is simple: there糖心传媒檚 a door near the bathroom that leads to a tidy little room with a desk. Inside this room, he feels a profound sense of peace. The problem is that Bj枚rn is the only one in the office who can see the room.

Bj枚rn is a new employee at 糖心传媒渢he Authority糖心传媒� at the start of the novel. He describes himself as ambitious and smart, but within a matter of pages, it becomes clear that he糖心传媒檚 unreliable. He reprimands a co-worker for allowing the files on his desk to spill onto Bj枚rn糖心传媒檚, an obvious overreaction. We begin to realize that the whole office is concerned about Bj枚rn糖心传媒檚 strange behavior when the manager, Karl, sends an email to the entire staff that says: 糖心传媒淲e will be putting staffing issues under a microscope.糖心传媒�

What follows Karl糖心传媒檚 email is the revelation that Bj枚rn sees a room nobody else can, and that, while Bj枚rn thinks he is inside the room, he is actually staring at the wall. Karl and the staff confront him about this behavior, but Bj枚rn, so convinced of his own reality, insists that everyone else is delusional or conspiring against him.

For the rest of the review, go here.

The novel begins as the narrator runs into an old friend, Jean, whose life has similarly stalled. With a wink and a nod they resume the friendship that they had lost years ago. We糖心传媒檙e also introduced to Marco, or Marc-Andr茅, who, along with Jean, becomes the third member of this sad band of rapidly-aging, aimless men. As the novel unfolds, we learn about the narrator糖心传媒檚 divorce from Ana茂s, and the painful estrangement from his son, Benjamin.

Early in the novel, we learn the great extent to which the narrator糖心传媒檚 mind torments him. 糖心传媒淪ince my separation, I haven糖心传媒檛 had a real love affair,糖心传媒� the narrator tells us. 糖心传媒淚 don糖心传媒檛 have the strength for it anymore, I kept telling myself. But why would I need strength? How the time passes . . . Quite often, my thinking stops there, and I try to sleep immediately afterwards, because I really don糖心传媒檛 know what糖心传媒檚 waiting for me if I keep thinking.糖心传媒� What little hope remains in his heart he糖心传媒檚 found in the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who once said there are no second acts in American life. 糖心传媒淭here are no second acts,糖心传媒� the narrator says. 糖心传媒淏ut I still believe there are, from time to time.糖心传媒�

He finds his second act in Marie, a woman he meets through an online dating website. When she begins treatment for breast cancer, the narrator finds himself once again falling in love and discovering that, despite what he has told himself, he does have the strength for another love affair糖心传媒攐ne that could last long enough to be considered a 糖心传媒渟econd act.糖心传媒�

The immersive power of the novel comes from the narrator糖心传媒檚 voice. He begins each paragraph somewhere, then wanders somewhere else, jumping idea to idea, often without starting new sentences. The reader must slow down to figure out whether he糖心传媒檚 integrating dialogue into his prose or recalling something someone once said or mocking someone. But in forcing us to slow down, the author has invited us to occupy the narrator糖心传媒檚 mind perhaps more intimately than we would otherwise.

By the end, we糖心传媒檙e left feeling good about the narrator糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渟econd act,糖心传媒� though we realize that, on some level, most of the man糖心传媒檚 life has gone by, much of it spent in some state of misery or confusion. It糖心传媒檚 easy to see how many people糖心传媒攎en, of course, but women, too糖心传媒攃an relate to guys like this narrator. After all, he does say, with his touch of dry humor, 糖心传媒渢here are only a few million of us, I think.糖心传媒�

Here’s the beginning of Peter’s review:

We all know Paris, or at least we think we know it. The Eiffel Tower. The Latin Quarter. The Champs-脡lys茅es. The touristy stuff. In Dominique Fabre糖心传媒檚 novel, Guys Like Me, we糖心传媒檙e shown a different side of Paris: a gray, decaying side that reflects, more than anything else, the emotional state of the storyteller, an unnamed narrator still reeling from his divorce many years ago.

The novel begins as the narrator runs into an old friend, Jean, whose life has similarly stalled. With a wink and a nod they resume the friendship that they had lost years ago. We糖心传媒檙e also introduced to Marco, or Marc-Andr茅, who, along with Jean, becomes the third member of this sad band of rapidly-aging, aimless men. As the novel unfolds, we learn about the narrator糖心传媒檚 divorce from Ana茂s, and the painful estrangement from his son, Benjamin.

Early in the novel, we learn the great extent to which the narrator糖心传媒檚 mind torments him. 糖心传媒淪ince my separation, I haven糖心传媒檛 had a real love affair,糖心传媒� the narrator tells us. 糖心传媒淚 don糖心传媒檛 have the strength for it anymore, I kept telling myself. But why would I need strength? How the time passes . . . Quite often, my thinking stops there, and I try to sleep immediately afterwards, because I really don糖心传媒檛 know what糖心传媒檚 waiting for me if I keep thinking.糖心传媒� What little hope remains in his heart he糖心传媒檚 found in the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who once said there are no second acts in American life. 糖心传媒淭here are no second acts,糖心传媒� the narrator says. 糖心传媒淏ut I still believe there are, from time to time.糖心传媒�

For the rest of the review, go here.

If you’re looking for some post-WWII-themed, summer reading with disturbing imagery that would blow Jane Yolen and her time-traveling YA hit out of the shark-infested waters (don’t ask about the sharks), this book should be on your list. The rich, blood-red cover treatment, the title, the grisly things Peter (of the ) mentions in his review . . . It’s enough to make you literally grimace and wonder how many episodes of Keeping up with the Kardashians you can self-medicate with to make the entire world go away but still not land yourself in the camp of comatose self-loathing. Basically, if you want a visceral and historical heebie-jeebie fest, this is it.

And yes: Kardashians and WWII. You saw that combination here first, folks.

Anyway, here’s a part of Peter’s review糖心传媒攁nd enjoy the weekend!:

The Skin is Malaparte糖心传媒檚 description of this moral plague. He writes about a character of the same name who accompanies a band of Pollyannaish American soldiers as they go about Naples acting as both conquerors and liberators. He bears witness to the variety of horrors that come at the end of a long war: starvation, slavery, casual murder, careless disposal of the dead, and the caustic nature with which the rich feed upon the poor (both literally and metaphorically), to name a few.

But these atrocities are merely a symptom of, or coexist with, the moral plague. Malaparte bemoans the easy way Neapolitans bend to the wishes of their American conquerors. 糖心传媒淚t was enough that a child should put into its mouth a candy offered to it by an American soldier, and its innocent soul would be corrupted.糖心传媒� The Neapolitans are too willing to trade national identity, pride, and dignity, just to get along with the new powers that be.

The Americans, for their part, approach this horrid landscape as if they weren糖心传媒檛 at least partially responsible, and so they become the target of Malaparte糖心传媒檚 most acidic sarcasm. The Americans of The Skin remain ignorant of Neapolitan culture. One American repeatedly speaks French to Malaparte and others, suggesting that, to him, all cultures other than his own are more or less the same. The Americans take what they can from the country they糖心传媒檝e razed with bombs and tanks, all the while holding themselves blameless. It rings true.

For the rest of the review, go here.

Commentary is a deconstruction of an insensitive and condescending break-up letter that is sent to the narrator when she is spending time in a sanatorium. Her lover, who is only referred to as 糖心传媒淏aby,糖心传媒� is in Paris, where he has made plans to marry another woman. 糖心传媒淚 am getting married . . . Our friendship remains . . .糖心传媒� his letter states, and from here, the narrator dives into the sadness and anger it provokes.

In her responses to different aspects of his letter, Sauvageot paints the portrait of a woman trying to understand not only a relationship that has failed, but also the nature of love in general. Baby says that it isn糖心传媒檛 his fault she糖心传媒檚 in a sanatorium; that he couldn糖心传媒檛 have made her happy anyway; that friendship should be sufficient going forward. The narrator doesn糖心传媒檛 let him off the hook. She writes:

You scoured the past for a sentence in which I seemed to say I no longer loved you: 糖心传媒淵ou always told me that what you had loved in me was 糖心传媒楤aby糖心传媒� and you did not conceal from me that 糖心传媒楤aby糖心传媒� no longer existed.糖心传媒� And you shield yourself with this sentence without wanting to remember how you did not accept it. Now, you welcome it with glee, because it enables you to escape reproach for your infidelity. (67)

She goes on to say that, in his absurd justification for leaving the relationship, she sees 糖心传媒渁 petty salesman reneging on a deal he no longer wants to close.糖心传媒� (68) Her assessment of this man is honest, apt, and fair.

Along with her assessment of the relationship is her attack on the gender dynamics at play. 糖心传媒淚s a woman in love not delighted when a man chooses her as a reward for her total love?糖心传媒� the narrator asks, with no small amount of snark. She goes on to say, in earnest, 糖心传媒渨hat you are saying is the eternally idiotic, but eternally true, song of those who love and are loved.糖心传媒� (52) The narrator, in short, is critical of the superficiality of modern love糖心传媒攁 criticism that remains relevant today.

In her introduction to this new edition, Jennifer Moxley refers to Baby as a 糖心传媒渇ailed human being.糖心传媒� One could call Baby lots of things: insensitive, blind to his own male privilege, and self-serving to name a few. But to call him 糖心传媒渇ailed糖心传媒� pronounces him dead, which he is not. The triumph of this book is that the narrator, while gravely wounded, sees through what Moxley would say makes him a 糖心传媒渇ailed human being糖心传媒澨切拇綌his weak attempts to justify his insensitivity. She knows him better than he knows himself. 糖心传媒淚 know you better, and that is not to love you less,糖心传媒� she writes (49). Could this narrator truly love a 糖心传媒渇ailed human being糖心传媒�?

The story ends optimistically, with a dance. The narrator attends a dance party, finds a partner, and spends a lovely evening with him. 糖心传媒淟ightly intoxicated by this rhythm, accompanied by my partner for the night, who by tomorrow will have forgotten this late evening, I slowly mounted the stairs to my door; and we took leave of each other after a kiss, without saying anything糖心传媒� (97). That kiss, after so much discussion of love, puts a cap of silence on a long meditation on the subject.

Why should we read this meditation in 2014? In a world in which social media encourage us to hide our flaws, this book attempts to remind us that those who love us because of our flaws, not in spite of them, are those who love us best.

Peter not only runs the , but is also a friend to Open Letter糖心传媒攚e had the pleasure of meeting him in person at AWP a couple weeks ago, and saddle him up with some great books.

Commentary, as many of you will know, is one of the 25 books that made the 2014 BTBA longlist.

Here’s the beginning of Peter’s review:

Commentary is a book that defies simple categorization. Marcelle Sauvageot糖心传媒檚 prose lives in the world of novel, memoir, and philosophical monologue as the narrator, a woman recuperating in a sanatorium, muses on the nature of love and examines her own crushed heart. Originally published in French under the title Commentaire in 1933, the book remains relevant precisely because the behavior of the man to whom these epistolary responses are addressed seems shockingly familiar.

Commentary is a deconstruction of an insensitive and condescending break-up letter that is sent to the narrator when she is spending time in a sanatorium. Her lover, who is only referred to as 糖心传媒淏aby,糖心传媒� is in Paris, where he has made plans to marry another woman. 糖心传媒淚 am getting married . . . Our friendship remains . . .糖心传媒� his letter states, and from here, the narrator dives into the sadness and anger it provokes.

For the rest of the review, go here.

Peter Biello is the organizer of the Burlington Writers Workshop and a producer/announcer/host at Vermont Public Radio. He’s also followable on Twitter .

Three cheers to Peter for not only joining the ranks as a reviewer for Three Percent, but for taking on a book that not only has the narrator explaining how his soul is a dead weight nestled between his nads, but also shows the extremes of post-road-rage.

Here’s the beginning of Peter’s review:

Let糖心传媒檚 say you糖心传媒檙e in a car accident. It糖心传媒檚 not a bad one. You rear-end someone on a busy highway where traffic is crawling. And let糖心传媒檚 say the person you hit happens to be a wealthy woman who leaps from her vehicle and berates you in language unfit for the ears of small children. What would you do?

Javier, the supposed name of the protagonist of Lorenzo Silva糖心传媒檚 novel The Faint-hearted Bolshevik, finds himself in this exact scenario and consequently decides to spend his summer playing pranks on the woman, Sonsoles糖心传媒攖hough the word 糖心传媒減rank糖心传媒� hardly describes what he does. For amusement, Javier calls the woman糖心传媒檚 home, lying in a variety of ways, all of which inflict psychological stress on Sonsoles and her family.

What kind of sick individual does such a thing? Javier is no prince, but he suffers in ways we can all, to some extent, relate to, which makes the story palatable. His job pays well, but traps him in a rat race that leaves him feeling like his soul is 糖心传媒渁 dead weight down there, just below my nut sack.糖心传媒� He lives alone, is average-looking, and his mother died years ago. There糖心传媒檚 no mention of his having family or friends. In our first encounter with Javier, Sonsoles treats him like trash. By the end of chapter one, Javier has decided to make Sonsoles suffer, and all this reviewer could feel is schadenfreude.

For the rest of the piece, go here.

Javier, the supposed name of the protagonist of Lorenzo Silva糖心传媒檚 novel The Faint-hearted Bolshevik, finds himself in this exact scenario and consequently decides to spend his summer playing pranks on this woman, Sonsoles, though the word 糖心传媒減rank糖心传媒� hardly describes what he does. For amusement, Javier calls the woman糖心传媒檚 home, lying in a variety of ways, all of which inflict psychological stress on Sonsoles and her family.

What kind of sick individual does such a thing? Javier is no prince, but he suffers in ways we can all, to some extent, relate to, which makes the story palatable. His job pays well, but traps him in a rat race that leaves him feeling like his soul is 糖心传媒渁 dead weight down there, just below my nut sack.糖心传媒� He糖心传媒檚 alone, average-looking, and his mother died years ago. There糖心传媒檚 no mention of his having family or friends. In our first encounter with Javier, Sonsoles treats him like trash. By the end of chapter one, Javier has decided to make Sonsoles suffer, and all this reviewer could feel is schadenfreude.

As Javier stalks Sonsoles, he sees and falls in love with her teenage sister, Rosana. He begins to lie his way into her (Rosana糖心传媒檚) life. Javier and Rosana meet, chat, and meet again, and eventually they find their way to a swimming pool, where Javier has something akin to a religious experience when he sees her in her bikini. Finally, when Javier decides the pranks have gone far enough, he takes Rosana to a quiet place where he糖心传媒檚 about to break off their strange, illicit relationship, when something happens (I won糖心传媒檛 spoil it for you) that turns Javier糖心传媒檚 experience from revenge-as-amusement to life-altering-shitstorm.

In this short novel, Javier, who speaks to us as a first person narrator, is aware of his shortcomings, though he doesn糖心传媒檛 present them as evidence of his innocence. He knows he糖心传媒檚 guilty and accepts his punishment without any apparent joy or sadness. His sense of right and wrong is, in a strange way, what guides him, even when he chooses what糖心传媒檚 wrong. In choosing revenge, he seeks balance to Sonsoles糖心传媒� cruelty, though he miscalculates and tips the scales the other way. Indeed, plotting revenge requires two graves,.

The title, The Faint-hearted Bolshevik, refers to Javier. The novel attempts to establish a parallel between Javier and one imaginary Bolshevik who, before killing a beautiful Russian grand duchess, falls in love with her. 糖心传媒淲hat a tender moment,糖心传媒� Javier tells us, 糖心传媒渨hen the Bolshevik turns against himself and the Revolution to admit his already necessarily despairing love for the Grand Duchess.糖心传媒�

Which brings us to the class issue. Javier is well-paid, but needs to work long days to stay that way. Sonsoles糖心传媒檚 life will be a long road paved with money and comfort. The contrast is clear: Javier is the Bolshevik, Rosana the Dutchess. It makes one wonder: Would Javier have launched his revenge quest without feeling some sort of class resentment (subconscious or otherwise)? He certainly has his views of morality and wealth/poverty (糖心传媒淎 conscience isn糖心传媒檛 a basic commodity, just a whim of people with full stomachs糖心传媒�). It糖心传媒檚 a question that lingers. The way Javier feels about himself certainly has something to do with what his job糖心传媒攁nd, by extension, the economy as a whole糖心传媒攈as done to him.

Money, overall, seems to hover in the background, while the emptiness at the core of Javier糖心传媒檚 life takes center stage. As readers, we hope he fills it with the love he seems to need. In the end, though, we are left pondering Javier糖心传媒檚 final thoughts, as well as bits of wisdom he offered throughout the book, including this little nugget: 糖心传媒淭here is no more interesting believer than the one who changes faith.糖心传媒�

Amen.