Gilbert Cruz

Really, really unexpected here.

Sadie, did you read Sonia and Sonny?

It is a book that I also think several people at the Book Review loved.

It's a book called The Director.

I think this is the book that I have actually recommended the most to people this year.

It's by Daniel Kelman.

This is a novel.

It's essentially historical fiction, but like elevated literary historical fiction.

It's about the Austrian filmmaker G.W.

Pabst, who...

Became famous in the early part of the century when he made a movie called Pandora's Box, which made the silent film actress Louise Brooks very famous.

In the book, he is compelled for both professional reasons and personal reasons to go back to Austria.

This is a terrible time to go back to Austria because, as we learned, this is right when Nazi Germany is taking over.

They close the borders and Pabst is now stuck there.

in Austria, and he has to make movies there for the Third Reich.

It's sort of this fascinating exploration of the compromises that are required when you have to make art sometimes, the way in which some people unfortunately find themselves starting to find authoritarianism appealing.

But I just thought it flew by.

Pabst is an amazing character, even though he's a real-life person.

There are a couple of incredibly tense scenes, and then incredibly

sort of like funny Orwellian bureaucratic scenes.