Book cover of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway

Book description

“This astonishing new book, by the brilliant Robin Black is an intimate meditation on reading and writing, aftermath and possibility, the tension between the never-stable, endlessly interpretable depths of a book and the fragility of life, the finality of death. I emerged from this breathtaking work with a transformed understanding…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Black’s book—one of the Bookmarked series in which writers reflect on the book most influential on their work (and in their life)—is part insightful commentary on Woolf’s novel, part advanced primer on the craft of writing, and part confessional on how the novel intersects with her own life. 

Traditional books on the craft of writing are fine as far as they go; beginning writers need to understand the basics. What I found most profound about Black’s observations was how deeply a book can affect a reader. It reminded me of why I first started to write—to create work in which…

If you love Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

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Dark Fae Outcast by Autumn M. Birt,

Trapped in our world, the fae are dying from drugs, contaminants, and hopelessness. Kicked out of the dark fae court for tainting his body and magic, Riasg only wants one thing: to die a bit faster. It’s already the end of his world, after all.

But while scoring his last…

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