Philip Womack
A Sleuth Awoken
The Final Solution
By Michael Chabon
Fourth Estate 127pp £10
Michael Chabon’s previous novel, Summerland, was a sprawling fantasy set in another world, brimming with baseball and magic. This novella is a much tighter affair, and the only magic around is that of the human brain. But it has a dreamlike vividness which turns an everyday murder story into something enchanted.
The detective at the heart of the story is never named, but the clues are all there. It is the late 1930s. The great Sherlock Holmes is still alive, now old and physically wasted. Ogre-like, he inhabits a junk-filled cottage, where he keeps bees and ruminates on the past. He
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm