Roundup: A Trotsky Controversy, George R.R. Martin, Bonnie Jo Campbell, more

by Mark Athitakis | Jul-11-2011

Scott McLemee investigates a harsh review of Robert Service’s 2009 biography of Leon Trotsky in the American Historical Review and discovers plenty of controversy surrounding the much-praised book.

Lev Grossman reviews George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons at NPR.org and praises fan fiction in Time.

The Washington Post’s Ron Charles and Los Angeles Times’ David Ulin review Once Upon a River, the debut novel by NBCC award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell; freelancer Jim Carmin reviews it for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Jacob Silverman reviews Antonio Lobo Antunes' newly translated 1979 novel, The Land at the End of the World, for Zyzzyva.

William Deresiewicz reviews David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King for the Nation.

Maureen Corrigan reviews Michael Sims’ The Story of Charlotte’s Web: E.B. White’s Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic for NPR.org.

Joseph Peschel reviews Richard Zimler’s new novel, The Warsaw Anagrams, for the Boston Globe.

Carolyn Kellogg reviews Rebecca Wolff’s debut novel, The Beginners, for the Los Angeles Times.

Carmela Ciuraru, author of Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms, discusses literary pen names and the man behind the blog Gay Girl in Damascus at the New York Daily News.

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