Michael Patrick Brady
@michaelpbrady.bsky.social
Writer, editor, book critic. Words @ The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, WBUR.org, and more. www.michaelpatrickbrady.com; bradymp.substack.com
I have a spooky short story up at Necessary Fiction this morning and wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some books and stories from writers I admire who happen to have been featured in some of the same lit mags I’ve been in.
In good company: 3 fellow travelers in fiction
3 book recommendations, some great short stories, and an album review in a footnote.
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 10:33 PM
I have a spooky short story up at Necessary Fiction this morning and wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some books and stories from writers I admire who happen to have been featured in some of the same lit mags I’ve been in.
I reviewed Anika Burgess's fun new history of early photography for The Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
Review | When photography was born, fascination, obsession and danger followed
In “Flashes of Brilliance,” Anika Burgess takes us back to the 19th century to showcase the artists and innovators who developed the revolutionary technology.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 14, 2025 at 2:53 PM
I reviewed Anika Burgess's fun new history of early photography for The Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
Sue Prideaux’s new Gauguin biography plays fast and loose with history so bourgeois art lovers can enjoy their pretty pictures in blissful ignorance.
Does Gauguin need to be redeemed?
A review of “Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin” by Sue Prideaux
open.substack.com
May 13, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Sue Prideaux’s new Gauguin biography plays fast and loose with history so bourgeois art lovers can enjoy their pretty pictures in blissful ignorance.
My review of Laura Spinney's "PROTO: How One Ancient Language Went Global" is up at the Wall Street Journal. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘Proto’ Review: Ancient Speech, Carried Far
Scholars believe a language used 5,000 years ago on the Asian steppe was the source of many of the world’s modern tongues.
www.wsj.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:57 PM
My review of Laura Spinney's "PROTO: How One Ancient Language Went Global" is up at the Wall Street Journal. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Matthew Gasda’s The Sleepers is out today. Check out the review that commenters begrudgingly called “fair” and “generous.”
“The Sleepers” by Matthew Gasda | Book Review
Identikit politics.
open.substack.com
May 6, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Matthew Gasda’s The Sleepers is out today. Check out the review that commenters begrudgingly called “fair” and “generous.”
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
I went on a real journey with this book.
“The Sleepers” by Matthew Gasda | Book Review
Identikit politics.
open.substack.com
April 29, 2025 at 12:21 PM
I went on a real journey with this book.
I went on a real journey with this book.
“The Sleepers” by Matthew Gasda | Book Review
Identikit politics.
open.substack.com
April 29, 2025 at 12:21 PM
I went on a real journey with this book.
I wrote about Paul Griffiths’ oulipian Ophelia novels.
Drowned in the stream of consciousness
Review: "let me tell you" and "let me go on" by Paul Griffiths (NYRB, April)
open.substack.com
April 23, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I wrote about Paul Griffiths’ oulipian Ophelia novels.
Over on Substack, I thought a bit about negative reviews and what the books I've reviewed negatively have in common.
7 Reasons I Panned Your Book
It’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it.
bradymp.substack.com
April 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Over on Substack, I thought a bit about negative reviews and what the books I've reviewed negatively have in common.
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
And most recently, I wrote about Joe Mungo Reed’s Terrestrial History—a speculative, but emotionally grounded exploration of climate collapse and interplanetary colonization for @bostonglobe.com.
In Reed’s ‘Terrestrial History,’ homesick for an abandoned Earth - The Boston Globe
A new novel by Joe Mungo Reed asks what humanity owes our home planet — and what we owe each other.
www.bostonglobe.com
April 19, 2025 at 4:20 PM
And most recently, I wrote about Joe Mungo Reed’s Terrestrial History—a speculative, but emotionally grounded exploration of climate collapse and interplanetary colonization for @bostonglobe.com.
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
On Substack, I did a deep dive on Vincenzo Latronico's "Perfection" and its withering dissection of my very own microgeneration.
The discreet charm of the bohemian bourgeoisie
A review of Vincenzo Latronico’s “Perfection” (NYRB, March 2025)
bradymp.substack.com
April 19, 2025 at 4:19 PM
On Substack, I did a deep dive on Vincenzo Latronico's "Perfection" and its withering dissection of my very own microgeneration.
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
I got to interview Joyce E. Chapin about her comprehensive history, "The Franklin Stove," which explores not just the titular invention, but the very origins of the American quest for consumable comfort. @wbur.org
Benjamin Franklin set out to conquer climate in the colonial era
In her new book, “The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution,” Harvard professor Joyce E. Chaplin reveals how this relatively modest invention prefigures the ascent of the United States as ...
www.wbur.org
April 19, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I got to interview Joyce E. Chapin about her comprehensive history, "The Franklin Stove," which explores not just the titular invention, but the very origins of the American quest for consumable comfort. @wbur.org
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
@bostonglobe.com, I wrote about Morgan Falconer's "How To Be Avant-Garde" and what past might be able to tell us about the future of art.
A look back at when art was revolutionary - The Boston Globe
Art-world insider Morgan Falconer ponders today’s dull scene.
www.bostonglobe.com
April 19, 2025 at 4:16 PM
@bostonglobe.com, I wrote about Morgan Falconer's "How To Be Avant-Garde" and what past might be able to tell us about the future of art.
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
At bradymr.substack.com, I wrote about @mcnallyeditions.com's all-too-timely reissue of Rebecca West's "Radio Treason."
Portrait of a Fascist: Rebecca West’s “Radio Treason”
Out February 11 from McNally Editions.
bradymp.substack.com
April 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
At bradymr.substack.com, I wrote about @mcnallyeditions.com's all-too-timely reissue of Rebecca West's "Radio Treason."
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
I had a lot of fun reading and reviewing @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social's "From Ted to Tom: The Illustrated Envelopes of Edward Gorey" @wbur.org.
A collection of illustrator Edward Gorey's works shared in new book
“From Ted to Tom: The Illustrated Envelopes of Edward Gorey” brings together 50 illustrations that Gorey sent to his friend, Tom Fitzharris, at the height of their friendship in 1974 and 1975.
www.wbur.org
April 19, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I had a lot of fun reading and reviewing @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social's "From Ted to Tom: The Illustrated Envelopes of Edward Gorey" @wbur.org.
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
Later that month, I reviewed Eric Larocca's latest "splatterpunk" novel and discussed the promise and pitfalls of transgressive fiction, also @wbur.org.
Boston author Eric LaRocca's latest novel delves into the horror of grief
“At Dark, I Become Loathsome” tells the story of a man whose grief over the loss of his family, and struggle with accepting his own sexuality, has sent down a dark path from which there might be no co...
www.wbur.org
April 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Later that month, I reviewed Eric Larocca's latest "splatterpunk" novel and discussed the promise and pitfalls of transgressive fiction, also @wbur.org.
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
In January, I spoke to author Matthew Pearl about “Save Our Souls,” his extraordinary tale of fraud and malfeasance in 19th century merchant sailing practices @wbur.org
'Save Our Souls' is a gripping tale of a 19th century Pacific shipwreck
The improbable but all-too-true story behind Matthew Pearl’s latest nonfiction effort, “Save Our Souls: The True Story of a Castaway Family, Treachery, and Murder,” takes readers on a rollicking adven...
www.wbur.org
April 19, 2025 at 4:11 PM
In January, I spoke to author Matthew Pearl about “Save Our Souls,” his extraordinary tale of fraud and malfeasance in 19th century merchant sailing practices @wbur.org
Here's a quick thread of the books I've covered so far this year for @wbur.org, @bostonglobe.com, and over on my Substack, at bradymp.substack.com.
These things, not others | Michael Patrick Brady | Substack
Books, literature, and writing. Find me at www.michaelpatrickbrady.com. Click to read These things, not others, by Michael Patrick Brady, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
bradymp.substack.com
April 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Here's a quick thread of the books I've covered so far this year for @wbur.org, @bostonglobe.com, and over on my Substack, at bradymp.substack.com.
Did two indigenous Americans visit Holland in 60 BC? Was a British woman convicted for witchcraft in 1944? What did Sinead O’Connor say when she tore up the pope’s photograph? Am I part Spanish? Read on for the answers to these obscure mysteries.
When books lie
On James W. Loewen and the cultivation of informed skepticism.
open.substack.com
April 15, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Did two indigenous Americans visit Holland in 60 BC? Was a British woman convicted for witchcraft in 1944? What did Sinead O’Connor say when she tore up the pope’s photograph? Am I part Spanish? Read on for the answers to these obscure mysteries.
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
New Thriller by Michael Patrick Brady!
"It was one of those preposterous summer nights when the sun forgot to set. We swarmed through the endless yellowed yards, a dirty dozen of us, defeating countless forbidding fences in pursuit of our prey."
www.unchartedmag.com/stories/come...
"It was one of those preposterous summer nights when the sun forgot to set. We swarmed through the endless yellowed yards, a dirty dozen of us, defeating countless forbidding fences in pursuit of our prey."
www.unchartedmag.com/stories/come...
Come Out and Play - Uncharted
It was one of those preposterous summer nights when the sun forgot to set. We swarmed through the endless yellowed yards, a dirty dozen of us, defeating countless forbidding fences in pursuit of our p...
www.unchartedmag.com
March 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
New Thriller by Michael Patrick Brady!
"It was one of those preposterous summer nights when the sun forgot to set. We swarmed through the endless yellowed yards, a dirty dozen of us, defeating countless forbidding fences in pursuit of our prey."
www.unchartedmag.com/stories/come...
"It was one of those preposterous summer nights when the sun forgot to set. We swarmed through the endless yellowed yards, a dirty dozen of us, defeating countless forbidding fences in pursuit of our prey."
www.unchartedmag.com/stories/come...
Reposted by Michael Patrick Brady
Our critic Michael Patrick Brady loved TERRESTRIAL HISTORY by Joe Mungo Reed, out today. In Brady's smart review in the @bostonglobe.com he writes that "Reed asks us to consider what might be easier to change — the laws of physics or human nature?"
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/08/a...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/08/a...
In Reed’s ‘Terrestrial History,’ homesick for an abandoned Earth - The Boston Globe
A new novel by Joe Mungo Reed asks what humanity owes our home planet — and what we owe each other.
www.bostonglobe.com
April 8, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Our critic Michael Patrick Brady loved TERRESTRIAL HISTORY by Joe Mungo Reed, out today. In Brady's smart review in the @bostonglobe.com he writes that "Reed asks us to consider what might be easier to change — the laws of physics or human nature?"
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/08/a...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/08/a...