Reviews written after finishing the book, quoting enough to let a reader argue back. Each verdict states the ambition, assesses the execution, and places the title beside the work it descends from. Fiction, nonfiction and reissues all covered. For readers who want criticism with a position.
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) still argues with its country rather than decorating it; a rereading seventy years after its National Book Award finds the design intact and the blind spots instructive.
