Mule Boy: A Novel by Andrew Krivak (Bellevue Literary Press). Reviewed by Raima Larter. “The short novel explores the myriad effects trauma can have on a young life through unflinching depictions of addiction, problems connecting with others in intimate relationships, and the overarching, driving need for a person who suffered early trauma to achieve closure and, ultimately, to confess his own role in the tragedy. And the author does it all in exquisite prose that explores a fascinating period in American history.”

On Fire for God: Fear, Shame, Poverty, and the Making of the Christian Right — a Personal History by Josiah Hesse (Pantheon). Reviewed by Arthur Ivan Bravo. “By placing his own story amid the experiences of flyover country’s white working class, Hesse tell us as much about them as himself. These communities — filled, in the mid-20th-century, with people who felt left behind in a rapidly modernizing and globalizing postwar world — succumbed to the lofty but false promises of conmen who contorted Christianity’s hopeful message, with the intent to swindle. The relentless epidemic of poverty, depression, and substance abuse in these places isn’t your fault, the people were assured. It’s their fault. Hence, the xenophobic blaming of others that continues to poison a large swath of the American electorate.”

men i hate: A Memoir in Essays by Lynette D’Amico (Mad Creek Books). Reviewed by Jennifer Bort Yacovissi. “The author recounts the two of them sharing backstories that speak to their queer identities, and Carl offers one that feels like a non sequitur about being in a car accident years before. It isn’t until later that the full story comes out: The then 24-year-old P--- had driven against traffic in an effort to destroy the alien body in which he was trapped. Thus, he knows why the episode is revelatory but fails to share the meaningful part with his wife. Was D’Amico supposed to intuit it? Is this how their expectations became so mismatched?”

How to Disappear and Why: Essays by Kyle Minor (Sarabande Books). Reviewed by Yelizaveta P. Renfro. “The collection is rife with meta-commentary, with Minor addressing us directly (‘If you are reading this essay, you probably hold at least a bachelor’s degree. It’s not unlikely that you have a master’s degree or PhD’) and describing the process of completing the book (‘The book you are right now reading — How to Disappear and Why — was once the manuscript I am still self-defeatingly withholding from my publisher in this unpleasant moment that will become the past. Typing and deleting, typing and deleting’).”

Medium Rare: A Novel by A. Natasha Joukovsky (Melville House). Reviewed by Serena Zets. “At its core, Medium Rare is about watching someone accomplish the unimaginable. Joukovsky is clever in positioning Cassandra as the teller of Phil’s tale because it turns the observation of his story into the story. In this social-media age, we all claim to know each other better than we really do, but Medium Rare tackles our voyeuristic culture head-on. How well does Cassandra actually know Phil? Does she have a legitimate claim to any of his success? The reader is left to decide.”

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