Isabella Agostino

Category: Book Reviews

  • The City and the Pillar (1948) by Gore Vidal

    Reviewed by Isabella Agostino ⋆⋆⋆⋆ The perfect story for when you’re busy with other areas of your life and don’t want to be consumed by an intense plot, but also don’t want to read nonfiction. This was an easy read. The sentences were concise, the descriptions clear, and the atmosphere was easily accessible. Side note:…

  • Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan (2001) by Howard Sounes

    Reviewed by Isabella Agostino ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ Sounes is an exceptionally talented storyteller. His skills are amplified by the subject matter, not overshadowed by it. He takes an honest look at Dylan’s life and is unafraid of confronting the ugliness. He allows readers to form their own judgments and interjects with opinions only occasionally to present us…

  • Her Body and Other Parties: Stories (2017) by Carmen Maria Machado

    Reviewed by Isabella Agostino ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ Reading Her Body means existing in a universe akin to those Márquez created, while simultaneously being treated to honest and refreshing depictions of same-sex relationships. Machado’s talents are numerous, but her greatest achievement here is the coherence she maintains while blending contemporary concerns with a magical realist’s eye for dreamlike…

  • Those Who Walk Away (1967) by Patricia Highsmith

    Reviewed by Isabella Agostino ⋆⋆⋆ I love Gore Vidal, so I took his quote on the cover of my edition very seriously. Also, Patricia Highsmith is from my town in Texas, so finding this in a used bookstore in Venice, Italy, felt like coming home. The story moved slowly, but there was always the right…

  • My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) by Ottessa Moshfegh

    Reviewed by Isabella Agostino ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ I finished this manically, all in one evening. I appreciate how Moshfegh handles the sexually explicit content in this satirical novel. The descriptions of intimacy are sterile, devoid of sensuality, sometimes full of boredom, and at times, desperate. This seems to be the point—treating sex, both with others and yourself,…