The Hard Life: An Exegesis of Squalor

Flann O'Brien. Dalkey Archive Press, $9.95 (179pp) ISBN 978-1-56478-042-3

O'Brien's 1961 novel is a sober but satirical tale about two Irish orphans growing up at the turn of the century amid the squalor of working-class Dublin. (Mar.)

Featured Fiction Reviews

Joseph Earl Thomas

The magnificent first novel from Thomas (Sink, a memoir) centers on an Iraq War veteran who works in a Philadelphia emergency room. Joey, who grew up in poverty, relies on Continue reading »

Briony Cameron

Cameron debuts with an exciting and multidimensional story inspired by the women pirates who sailed the Caribbean in the 17th century. Jacquotte Delahaye, who is of Haitian and Continue reading »

Marcela Fuentes

Fuentes debuts with the astonishing story of two malas, or women who challenge traditional Mexican gender norms. The year is 1951 and Pilar Aguirre, who is eight months pregnant Continue reading »

Scott Preston

Preston’s blistering debut takes place in the farthest reaches of northern England, on “cloud-eaten” fells battered by wind and inhabited mostly by sheep. There’s nothing much Continue reading »