Siblings

We lived in the constrictive belt of bible-thumpers, but I always wanted my life to unfurl like a beach read, the kind of life that conjures a certain ephemeral pleasure, baked between sand and sun, crashing waves far enough away so their fatal danger only registers as ambiance.

This First Proof contains an excerpt from Distant Cousin by Federico Vegas, translated by Lisa Dillman.

He forced his gaze past his own reflection in the plate-glass window of the restaurant, past the inverted letters announcing Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese cuisine, to the night beyond. 

Tran Anh Hung’s latest film is filled with love and infidelity, skirting the line between reality and a dreamworld.

The Frogs, who’ve been writing and recording for 20 years, diverge (to some degree) from their basement roots to make an album with slightly more production value.

This article is only available in print.

Memoir, biography, nonfiction novel—all of these terms apply to My Sister Life, a stunning and disturbing book by poet and novelist Maria Flook. 

My mother is lighting another cigarette from the stove. 

A deftly crafted and mordant social drama set in Algeria during the last years of French Colonialism, Overseas (Outreamer), which actress Brigitte Rouan co-wrote and in which she co-stars with Nicole Garcia and Marianne Basler, marks a stunning debut for Rouan as a director.

Still dressed in the suit he wore to the funeral and not five minutes in mama’s house Cutts sought, found, and pulled down on the cord that hung from the trap door to the attic. Georgia stood behind him, black pumps off.

Sarah and I borrowed the kids and the van and drove to the beach.