All of us on the National Book Critics Circle board were shocked and heartbroken to hear of the death of our beloved member John Domini last week. In addition to being an incisive critic, John was a truly gifted translator and the brilliantly talented author of books including The Sea-God’s Herb, MOVIEOLA!, The Color Inside a Melon, The Archeology of a Good Ragù: Discovering Naples, My Family, & Myself, and Talking Heads: 77.
He was also a model literary citizen, offering his unwavering and generous support for other writers, and a tireless advocate for literature and the people who love it. He has gone far too soon, but we are all so much better for having known him.
We’re going to miss you so much, John. Che la terra ti sia lieve, amico.
NBCC Board Members Remember John Domini
“Italo Calvino, translated by Patrick Creagh, wrote: ‘A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.’ John Domini was a classic. After hearing the unexpected news of John’s passing I realized I’d never met him in person. Yet I felt I had, and that I had known him for many years even though it was likely less than five. This reflects the outsized impact John had, on me, on many others, and of course, on the art of criticism. Unfailingly generous, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and a hell of a writer too. We shared a love for Italian literature, particularly Calvino, and I sorrow that there won’t be more conversations, because we didn’t have nearly enough, at least on this plane. I’d like to think that he is in a sunny piazza, gathering with the greats, as I write this. Giovanni, grazie tanto. Until we meet again.” — Mandana Chaffa
“My friend, John Domini, left an impressive literary legacy, but his greatest gift to all who knew him was his remarkable kindness, deep wisdom, and abiding generosity of spirit. He was a gentleman and a scholar in the finest senses of both words. His nature was to look for the best in his fellow human beings and in their writing, and he always managed to find it—his assessments true and authentic, but also big-hearted and munificent. In short, John displayed the rarest of pairings: a sharp mind and a gentle soul. He left the literary community far too soon, but he left it and many of us, myself included, so much better off for having known him.” — Jacob Appel
“I could spend the rest of this week tallying up reasons to admire John Domini and would still be counting by the time the week came to an end. Besides his own considerable abilities as an author of fiction, nonfiction, and criticism, what has long stood out for me about John’s life was his empathy and accessibility. I have fond memories of conversations with John in settings as disparate as an NBCC working group several years ago and at a delicious Italian restaurant in Seattle in 2023. I can think of few other writers I’ve met who embodied such a holistic approach to life and work, and I will always be grateful for the time I spent in his company.” — Tobias Carroll
Member Reviews/Essays
Jennifer Howard reviewed Linda Joan Smith’s debut middle-grade novel, The Peach Thief, for The New York Times Book Review.
Ryan Chapman reviewed Ariel Courage’s Bad Naturefor the Los Angeles Times.
Former NBCC board member and Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing recipient Steven G. Kellman reviewed Noble Fragments: The Gripping Story of the Antiquarian Bookseller Who Broke Up a Gutenberg Bible by Michael Visontay for Arts Alive San Antonio.
Elizabeth Tucker reviewed Nevermore, written by Cécile Wajsbrot and translated from the French by Tess Lewis, for On the Seawall.
An audio recording and text excerpt of Sean Carlson’s essay “False Cognates” for the New England Review were published online as part of a special folio celebrating the 30th anniversary of Wong Kar Wai’s film Chungking Express.
Former NBCC board member Mark Athitakis reviewed Emma Pattee’s Tilt for The Washington Post.
Jake Casella Brookins reviewed Caroline Hagood’s Death and Other Speculative Fictions for Locus.
Heller McAlpin reviewed Emma Donoghue’s The Paris Express for The Wall Street Journal.
Linda Hitchcock reviewed Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave and Alice Henderson’s The Vanishing Kind for BookTrib.
Cory Oldweiler reviewed Fleshby David Szalay for The Boston Globe and Gloria, written by Andrés Filipe Solano and translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden, for the Southwest Review.
Ellen Prentiss Campbell wrote about the joys of the ancestral reading chair in her Girl Writing column for the Washington Independent Review of Books.
For The Red Hook Star-Revue, Michael Quinn revisited the late Gary Indiana’s 1989 gay novel of obsessive love and longing, Horse Crazy.
Tom Peebles reviewed Ronnie Grinberg’s Write Like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals on his personal blog.
Kristen Martin wrote about Stacy Horn’s The Killing Fields of East New York for The Nation and reviewed Brian Goldstone’s There Is No Place for Us and Sarah Jones’ Disposable for The Washington Post.
Randy Cepuch reviewed Will Bardenwerper’s Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of Americafor the Washington Independent Review of Books.
Jake Cline reviewed Nell Zink’s Sister Europe for The Washington Post.
For The Tangential, Jay Gabler reviewed Neal Shusterman’s All Better Now.
Brian Tanguay reviewed A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith for the California Review of Books.
Member Interviews
In March, former NBCC President Megan Labrise interviewed Laila Lalami, Karen Russell, Deb Caletti, and Bob the Drag Queen for Kirkus’ weekly podcast, Fully Booked.
NBCC board member Mary Ann Gwinn was interviewed by Cal Flyn at Five Books about the finalists for the NBCC Award for Biography.
Sean Carlson interviewed Stephen Brodsky from the band Cave In, including discussion of the poetry that influences his songwriting, for Rhode Island’s alt-monthly Motif Magazine.
Former NBCC board member Anita Felicelli interviewed Eowyn Ivey about Black Woods, Blue Sky for Alta.
Grant Faulkner interviewed Lidia Yuknavitch on the Write-minded podcast about her new book, Reading the Waves.
Jake Casella Brookins talked to writer and critic Archita Mittra about Jo Walton’s novel Among Others for the podcast A Meal of Thorns.
NBCC Vice President/Online Michael Schaub interviewed Margarita Montimore for the Orange County Register.
Member News
NBCC board member Mandana Chaffa, Vice President of the Barrios Book in Translation Prize, will be interviewing poet, writer, and performer Danez Smith live via Zoom for The Brooklyn Rail‘s New Social Environment series, on Wednesday, April 9, at 1 p.m. ET. You can pre-register here.
“Visit to Capri, Naples, Italy” by martin_vmorris is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.