Hamilton Cain
@hamiltoncain.bsky.social
Expat Tennesseean in NYC. Bylines: New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Oprah Daily, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of Books, Publishers Weekly, Chapter 16, On The Seawall, Harvard Review.
A noir delight, @poingu.bsky.social's "Evil Genius" recounts one young woman's coming-of-age in 1970s San Francisco. Out Tuesday from @eccobooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/b...
In 1970s San Francisco, a Groovy Tale of Sex and Menace
www.nytimes.com
February 15, 2026 at 1:26 PM
A noir delight, @poingu.bsky.social's "Evil Genius" recounts one young woman's coming-of-age in 1970s San Francisco. Out Tuesday from @eccobooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/b...
Cool, thanks @literaryhub.bsky.social ! lithub.com/5-book-revie...
5 Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week
Our murder’s row of magnificent reviews this week includes Ron Charles on Jonathan Miles’s Eradication, Karan Mahajan on Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives, Alexandra Jacobs on Li…
lithub.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Cool, thanks @literaryhub.bsky.social ! lithub.com/5-book-revie...
To quote the estimable @maris.bsky.social: Burn it all down.
February 4, 2026 at 6:34 PM
To quote the estimable @maris.bsky.social: Burn it all down.
Oyez, bibliophiles: here's my list of ten February books, compliments of TIME: time.com/7362790/best...
The Best New Books to Read in February
From Tayari Jones' Kin to Gisele Pelicot's memoir, here are the best books to read this month
time.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Oyez, bibliophiles: here's my list of ten February books, compliments of TIME: time.com/7362790/best...
Reposted by Hamilton Cain
Frequent contributor @hamiltoncain.bsky.social reviewed the latest George Saunders novel, VIGIL, for us. He writes that the book is "thrilling on the page." Read his review in the print @bostonglobe.com on Sunday, or here now.
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...
Can anything save the soul of a tycoon? In ‘Vigil,’ George Saunders mines empathy, memory, and heart. - The Boston Globe
We meet Jill Blaine first as she plummets toward K.J. Boone's Dallas mansion from “the elevation,” a celestial perch where a few select dead usher their charges into the afterlife.
www.bostonglobe.com
January 21, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Frequent contributor @hamiltoncain.bsky.social reviewed the latest George Saunders novel, VIGIL, for us. He writes that the book is "thrilling on the page." Read his review in the print @bostonglobe.com on Sunday, or here now.
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...
The great George Saunders is back with a masterful second novel, "Vigil," out next week from Random House. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...
Can anything save the soul of a tycoon? In ‘Vigil,’ George Saunders mines empathy, memory, and heart. - The Boston Globe
We meet Jill Blaine first as she plummets toward K.J. Boone's Dallas mansion from “the elevation,” a celestial perch where a few select dead usher their charges into the afterlife.
www.bostonglobe.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:27 PM
The great George Saunders is back with a masterful second novel, "Vigil," out next week from Random House. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/20/a...
Jeanette Winterson's "One Aladdin Two Lamps" is a rich if problematic meditation on storytelling, out next week from @groveatlantic.bsky.social. Here's my review for @washingtonpost.com: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2026/0...
Review | A groundbreaking writer finds a novel way to air her grievances
Jeanette Winterson’s genre-bending “One Aladdin Two Lamps” channels her anger at patriarchy in a reimagining of “One Thousand and One Nights.”
www.washingtonpost.com
January 17, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Jeanette Winterson's "One Aladdin Two Lamps" is a rich if problematic meditation on storytelling, out next week from @groveatlantic.bsky.social. Here's my review for @washingtonpost.com: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2026/0...
Do y'allselves a favor and preorder @namwalien.bsky.social's "On Morrison," a magisterial close reading of an American master in an age of lit-lite substacks. Out 2/24 from Hogarth. Here's my review for @ronslate.bsky.social's "On the Seawall": www.ronslate.com/on-on-morris...
on On Morrison by Namwali Serpell – On the Seawall
www.ronslate.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Do y'allselves a favor and preorder @namwalien.bsky.social's "On Morrison," a magisterial close reading of an American master in an age of lit-lite substacks. Out 2/24 from Hogarth. Here's my review for @ronslate.bsky.social's "On the Seawall": www.ronslate.com/on-on-morris...
Before we all float away on a tide of eggnog, here's @time.com's preview of 36 anticipated books coming in 2026. Many thanks to Lucy Feldman for the opportunity. time.com/7341767/most...
The 36 Most Anticipated Books of 2026
The year ahead promises new books from George Saunders, Colson Whitehead, Ann Patchett, Ruth Ozeki, Jesmyn Ward and more
time.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Before we all float away on a tide of eggnog, here's @time.com's preview of 36 anticipated books coming in 2026. Many thanks to Lucy Feldman for the opportunity. time.com/7341767/most...
Reposted by Hamilton Cain
Wrote up 2025 best fiction for @bostonglobe.com with my esteemed fellow critic @hamiltoncain.bsky.social. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/a...
The 75 best books of 2025 - The Boston Globe
From fiction to nonfiction, discover the best books of 2025 with our curated list of 75 titles.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Wrote up 2025 best fiction for @bostonglobe.com with my esteemed fellow critic @hamiltoncain.bsky.social. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/a...
I had a blast contributing to @bostonglobe.com's "Best Books of 2025" fiction roundup. Thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/a...
The 75 best books of 2025 - The Boston Globe
From fiction to nonfiction, discover the best books of 2025 with our curated list of 75 titles.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I had a blast contributing to @bostonglobe.com's "Best Books of 2025" fiction roundup. Thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/a...
There 'tis. I reviewed 13 of these beauties: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...
100 Notable Books of 2025
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
There 'tis. I reviewed 13 of these beauties: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...
I had the pleasure and privilege of reviewing @svenbeckert.bsky.social's landmark "Capitalism: A Global History" for @bostonglobe.com. Out tomorrow from @penguinpress.bsky.social. Thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/a...
Is everything you ever learned about capitalism wrong? - The Boston Globe
While scholars have illuminated bits and pieces of this immense narrative, Beckert’s massive volume brings it together with impeccable authority and perspicacity.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:02 PM
I had the pleasure and privilege of reviewing @svenbeckert.bsky.social's landmark "Capitalism: A Global History" for @bostonglobe.com. Out tomorrow from @penguinpress.bsky.social. Thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/a...
Reposted by Hamilton Cain
A movie that takes place where you're from. vimeo.com/259103344
November 23, 2025 at 9:09 PM
A movie that takes place where you're from. vimeo.com/259103344
I had the great good fortune to work with Lucy Feldman and her team on TIME's "100 Must-Read Books 2025," the perfect holidays gift list for bibliophiles in your lives: time.com/collections/...
The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025
Discover the novels, memoirs, biographies, and more that entertained and enlightened us
time.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I had the great good fortune to work with Lucy Feldman and her team on TIME's "100 Must-Read Books 2025," the perfect holidays gift list for bibliophiles in your lives: time.com/collections/...
An American master returns with a collection of eerie, brilliant stories. Here's my review of Joy Williams's "The Pelican Child" for @bostonglobe.com. Out next week from @aaknopf.bsky.social. Many thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/11/a...
In her new story collection, Joy Williams probes the weirdness of the West - The Boston Globe
Joy Williams’s stories are set in a liminal space, untethered, grasslands floating among craggy mountains, biker bars and seedy motels and ghosts baked by harsh sunlight.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
An American master returns with a collection of eerie, brilliant stories. Here's my review of Joy Williams's "The Pelican Child" for @bostonglobe.com. Out next week from @aaknopf.bsky.social. Many thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/11/a...
The great Salman Rushdie examines mortality from myriad angles in "The Eleventh Hour," a quintet of stories just out from Random House. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/salman-rushd...
Review: Salman Rushdie still at top of his powers with ‘Eleventh Hour’
Fiction: His elegant short fiction probes the shadows of mortality and loss.
www.startribune.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:48 PM
The great Salman Rushdie examines mortality from myriad angles in "The Eleventh Hour," a quintet of stories just out from Random House. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/salman-rushd...
And today's print version of @stribgoingout.startribune.com:
November 9, 2025 at 1:31 PM
And today's print version of @stribgoingout.startribune.com:
Print is sweet! Today's @latimes.com:
November 9, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Print is sweet! Today's @latimes.com:
Siddharth Kara's searing "The Zorg" is easily one of this year's top five nonfiction titles. Out now from @stmartinspress.bsky.social. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/the-zorg-kar...
Review: A shocking act at sea damns ‘The Zorg’
Nonfiction: Siddharth Kara’s account of a slave ship is one of the year’s finest books.
www.startribune.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Siddharth Kara's searing "The Zorg" is easily one of this year's top five nonfiction titles. Out now from @stmartinspress.bsky.social. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/the-zorg-kar...
The British-American historian Richard Bell offers an exuberant narrative on the American Revolution's global impact. Out today from @riverheadbooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for "On the Seawall":https://www.ronslate.com/on-the-american-revolution-and-the-fate-of-the-world-by-richard-bell/
November 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The British-American historian Richard Bell offers an exuberant narrative on the American Revolution's global impact. Out today from @riverheadbooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for "On the Seawall":https://www.ronslate.com/on-the-american-revolution-and-the-fate-of-the-world-by-richard-bell/
Fashionably late to the party? Here's my review of Thomas Pynchon's rollicking "Shadow Ticket" for @startribune.com. Out now from @penguinpress.bsky.social: www.startribune.com/thomas-pynch...
Review: If you loved DiCaprio’s new film, have we got a book for you
Fiction: Maestro Thomas Pynchon is back with “Shadow Ticket,” a brilliant comic novel set in Al Capone’s America.
www.startribune.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Fashionably late to the party? Here's my review of Thomas Pynchon's rollicking "Shadow Ticket" for @startribune.com. Out now from @penguinpress.bsky.social: www.startribune.com/thomas-pynch...
Zadie Smith's collection of essays, "Dead and Alive," is provocative, eloquent, and uneven. Out today from @penguinpress.bsky.social. Here's my review for @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Review: All the Zadies — empathetic and problematic — are on display in her latest essay collection
‘Dead and Alive’ review: Zadie Smith collection revisits controversy
www.latimes.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Zadie Smith's collection of essays, "Dead and Alive," is provocative, eloquent, and uneven. Out today from @penguinpress.bsky.social. Here's my review for @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...