James Kidd
Friends with Benefits
Subtle Bodies
By Norman Rush
Granta Books 235pp £14.99
Subtle Bodies is Norman Rush’s fourth work of fiction, although he is so unheard of outside America that British readers may be forgiven for believing it is his debut. This book is not an obvious candidate to compel a literary coronation. The slimmest novel in Rush’s corpus, it has an opening which gives a fair impression that it might be his slightest. Its frenetic pace, zesty tone and enjoyably madcap premise flirt pleasingly with screwball, as if Rush has overdosed on late Woody Allen or been seduced by superior chick lit.
We find our hero, Ned, in the middle of a marital row, dashing from San Francisco to New York to attend the funeral of an old friend, Douglas. Ned and his wife, Nina, have been trying to conceive and his departure comes slap bang in the middle of her most
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
London's East End was long synonymous with poverty and sweatshops, while its West End was associated with glamour and high society. But when it came to the fashion industry, were the differences really so profound?
Sharman Kadish - Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers
Sharman Kadish: Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers - Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style; Fashion City: ...
literaryreview.co.uk
In 1982, Donald Rumsfeld presented Saddam Hussein with a pair of golden spurs. Two decades later he was dropping bunker-busting bombs on his palaces.
Where did the US-Iraqi relationship go wrong?
Rory Mccarthy - The Case of the Vanishing Missiles
Rory Mccarthy: The Case of the Vanishing Missiles - The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the United States and the ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Barbara Comyns was a dog breeder, a house painter, a piano restorer, a landlady... And a novelist.
@nclarke14 on the lengths 20th-century women writers had to go to make ends meet:
Norma Clarke - Her Family & Other Animals
Norma Clarke: Her Family & Other Animals - Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence by Avril Horner
literaryreview.co.uk