Roberta Schrock News Today

Ottessa Moshfegh's Lapvona follows the life of Marek, a 13-year-old peasant boy who lives in a cruel world of sadism and stink, cannibalism and self-flagellation.

Kingston burst onto the scene in 1976 with The Woman Warrior and then kept writing. Critic John Powers says that, like James Baldwin, she's managed to shift American culture and remain relevant.