Michael Schaub
Michael Schaub is a writer, book critic and regular contributor to NPR Books. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Portland Mercury and The Austin Chronicle, among other publications. He lives in Austin, Texas.
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Set in Spain's Basque Country, Gabriel Urza's new novel chronicles three lives in the aftermath of the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Critic Michael Schaub calls it "unsparing and beautiful."
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Tom Williams' new collection digs into the experience of being multiracial, difficult to categorize in a society that likes to slap labels on people. Reviewer Michael Schaub calls it vital and gutsy.
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The characters in Lauren Holmes' debut story collection are more than words on a page, says reviewer Michael Schaub. They're fully, exasperatingly real, portrayed with charm but without pretension.
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Louisa Hall's novel fits several wildly disparate storylines — a young Puritan girl, a disgraced inventor, a computer programmer — into an unforgettable meditation on what it means to be human.
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Naomi Jackson's first novel follows a pair of Brooklyn sisters sent to live in their mother's small Barbados hometown. Critic Michael Schaub says "it's not a perfect book, but it's a lovely one."
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Many of the characters in Mia Alvar's debut story collection are outcasts looking for love and a home — but critic Michael Schaub says it's hard to condense this impressive book into just one theme.
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Lisa Gornick's new novel-slash-story-collection turns around the long and stormy relationship between the title characters. Critic Michael Schaub says the book "may not be comforting, but it's true."
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Mat Johnson's funny, humane new novel follows a biracial man coming to terms with his identity — and the daughter he never knew about. Michael Schaub calls it a "beautiful, triumphant miracle."
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Anna North's new novel is narrated by friends and family after the death of troubled filmmaker Sophie. Critic Michael Schaub calls it "a bold and graceful novel, executed with incredible artistry."
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Aleksandar Hemon's darkly hilarious new novel follows a sad-sack Chicago teacher whose screenwriting dreams lead to catastrophe. Critic Michael Schaub calls it "crazy in the best sense of the word."