The story of three immigrants helping to transform the city of Utica, N.Y., gives fresh insights about refugees forced to flee home.
REVIEW: City of Refugees: The Story of Three Newcomers Who Breathed Life Into a Dying American Town by Susan Hartman
Category: Reviews
An archive of our reviews of memoirs, essay collections, and other works of creative nonfiction.
REVIEW: Thin Places: A Natural History of Healing and Home by Kerri ní Dochartaigh
The memoir of growing up amid Ireland’s strife weaves together politics, the natural world and the author’s story.
REVIEW: Dreadful Sorry: Essays on an American Nostalgia by Jennifer Niesslein
Americans’ affinity for nostalgia becomes a personal exploration of family, race and memories in this thoughtful essay collection.
REVIEW: Killer Looks: The Forgotten History of Plastic Surgery in Prisons by Zara Stone
The little-known history of plastic surgery for prisoners reflects a societal bias about attractiveness and a surprising aid to convict rehabilitation.
REVIEW: Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family by Madhushree Ghosh
The memoir deftly braids memories of food and a Bengali upbringing with reflections of how cuisine has informed the writer’s sense of identity…
REVIEW: Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos
Melissa Febos combines memoir with compassionate and candid advice on craft in Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative.
REVIEW: Big Reader: Essays by Susan Olding
A life-long love of books and her personal connections to specific works are explored by a master essayist.
REVIEW: An Encyclopedia of Bending Time by Kristin Keane
Writer Kristin Keane daringly bends the boundaries of form and craft in a book exploring the loss of her mother.
REVIEW: Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir by Aileen Weintraub
A high-risk pregnancy inspires suspense and laughter in a memoir chronicling a farmhouse rehab, marital challenges and 38 weeks of bed rest.
REVIEW: Shadow Migration: Mapping a Life by Suzanne Ohlmann
The memoir uniquely explores the space between the facts of our lives and our shadow selves.
