Avengers novel

The latest novel by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro ("The Remains of the Day," "Never Let Me Go"), "Klara and the Sun" (Knopf) is a science-fiction story of artificial intelligence, manufactured companions, and the meaning of love. Then our turn finally came, and Rosa and I stepped into the window one morning, making sure not to knock over any of the display the way the pair before us had done the previous week. The store, of course, had yet to open, and I thought the grid would be fully down. But once we'd seated ourselves on the Striped Sofa, I saw there was a narrow gap running along the bottom of the grid – Manager must have raised it a little when checking everything was ready for us – and the Sun's light was making a bright rectangle that came up onto the platform and finished in a straight line just in front of us. We only needed to stretch our feet a little to place them within its warmth. I knew then that whatever the answer to Rosa's question, we were about to get all … [Read more...] about Book excerpt: “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro

In "The Committed" (Grove Press), a sequel to the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Sympathizer," author Viet Thanh Nguyen follows his communist spy protagonist as he arrives in 1980s Paris to take up a new persona: drug dealer. I may no longer be a spy or a sleeper, but I am most definitely a spook. How can I not be, with two holes in my head from which leaks the black ink in which I am writing these words. What a peculiar condition, being dead yet penning these lines in my little room in Paradise. This must make me a ghostwriter, and as such, it is a simple, if spooky, matter to dip my pen into the ink flowing from my twin holes, one drilled by myself, the other by Bon, my best friend and blood brother. Put your gun down, Bon. You can only kill me once. Or maybe not. I am also still a man of two faces and two minds, one of which might perhaps yet still be intact. With two minds, I am able to see any issue from both sides, and while I once flattered myself that this … [Read more...] about Book excerpt: “The Committed” by Viet Thanh Nguyen

In Lauren Oyler's acclaimed comic novel, "Fake Accounts" (Catapult Books), a woman discovers her boyfriend's online persona of anonymous conspiracy theorist, and responds by creating fake online identities of her own. When I was seven years old my mother took me to see the film adaptation of Louise Fitzhugh's 1964 classic children's novel "Harriet the Spy." The movie starred Michelle Trachtenberg as a sixth grader who keeps a notebook of "spy" observations, which include field notes on "missions" (breaking and entering) as well as mean commentary on her friends and family. The notebook is a classic black-and-white marbled composition book with the word PRIVATE taped over the front; this mandate is ignored by the rich popular bully, Marion Hawthorne, who finds the notebook while Harriet and her friends, Janie and Sport, are playing in a park. Marion, in a precocious houndstooth blazer, gathers the class around and begins to read aloud, to the tiny Michelle Trachtenberg's … [Read more...] about Book excerpt: “Fake Accounts” by Lauren Oyler

NEW YORK: Alexander Zverev said it was too soon to look for the positives in his US Open campaign as the devastated German struggled to come to terms with Sunday's (Sep 14) five-set defeat to Dominic Thiem in the Flushing Meadows final. After winning the opening two sets in his first Grand Slam final, the 23-year-old looked set for victory until second seed Thiem fought back, taking the title in a tiebreak as an exhausted Zverev struggled through a thigh cramp that neutralized his powerful serve. "I was super close to being a Grand Slam champion. I was a few games away, maybe a few points away," he told reporters. "I don't think it's my last chance. I do believe that I will be a Grand Slam champion at some point." The fifth seed said the turning point in the four-hour thriller came when Thiem broke his serve for the first time in the third set, a break which reversed the momentum of the match. "He started playing much better and I started playing much worse," said Zverev, … [Read more...] about Tennis: Zverev left reeling after Grand Slam slips through his fingers

SYDNEY: Australia reported its lowest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases in nearly three months on Monday (Sep 14) as authorities began to ease restrictions aimed at slowing its spread. Thirty-nine people were found to be infected with the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the lowest one-day increase in new cases since Jun 26, when 37 infections were detected. With dwindling numbers of new infections, the epicentre of Australia's latest outbreak, Victoria state, has begun easing restrictions, allowing people to leave their homes for longer periods for exercise and shortening a curfew at night. Still, frustrations are high, with hundreds of people taking part in protests on the weekend against the weeks-long coronavirus lockdown. Authorities urged patience. READ: WHO reports record one-day increase in global COVID-19 cases, up over 307,000 Brett Sutton, Victoria's chief health officer, likened the cautious easing of restrictions to "baby steps". "We can't have short-term … [Read more...] about Australia reports lowest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases in almost 3 months