Maureen Corrigan

There are pages of wry and often compassionate catalogs here describing the routines of High and his fellow workers, as well as the drugs they take to get through the pain and exhaustion of those routines. Every day, this crew spends more of their waking hours with each other than they do with anyone else. One result is that they can sniff each other's presence.

There are pages of wry and often compassionate catalogs here describing the routines of High and his fellow workers, as well as the drugs they take to get through the pain and exhaustion of those routines. Every day, this crew spends more of their waking hours with each other than they do with anyone else. One result is that they can sniff each other's presence.

Before long, High began to know which employee was behind him by their scent alone. The Johnson & Johnson baby lotion Wayne rubbed over grease burns on his arms. The traces of whiskey coming through the Wrigley's Maureen chewed. The bootleg Tom Ford BJ wore, cut with the strawberry starbursts Russia was always sucking on.

Before long, High began to know which employee was behind him by their scent alone. The Johnson & Johnson baby lotion Wayne rubbed over grease burns on his arms. The traces of whiskey coming through the Wrigley's Maureen chewed. The bootleg Tom Ford BJ wore, cut with the strawberry starbursts Russia was always sucking on.

Before long, High began to know which employee was behind him by their scent alone. The Johnson & Johnson baby lotion Wayne rubbed over grease burns on his arms. The traces of whiskey coming through the Wrigley's Maureen chewed. The bootleg Tom Ford BJ wore, cut with the strawberry starbursts Russia was always sucking on.

The Emperor of Gladness is a truly great novel about work, still an under-acknowledged topic in American fiction. Hard work is supposed to get you somewhere. That's part of the promise of America. But the payoff feels much less certain to these characters.

The Emperor of Gladness is a truly great novel about work, still an under-acknowledged topic in American fiction. Hard work is supposed to get you somewhere. That's part of the promise of America. But the payoff feels much less certain to these characters.

The Emperor of Gladness is a truly great novel about work, still an under-acknowledged topic in American fiction. Hard work is supposed to get you somewhere. That's part of the promise of America. But the payoff feels much less certain to these characters.

A winning lottery ticket, an inheritance, maybe even a union would have to come along to propel these characters to a place of greater humane possibility. Vuong's achingly austere artistic vision leaves it to his readers to imagine the better world he won't let himself depict on the pages of this wonderful novel.

A winning lottery ticket, an inheritance, maybe even a union would have to come along to propel these characters to a place of greater humane possibility. Vuong's achingly austere artistic vision leaves it to his readers to imagine the better world he won't let himself depict on the pages of this wonderful novel.

A winning lottery ticket, an inheritance, maybe even a union would have to come along to propel these characters to a place of greater humane possibility. Vuong's achingly austere artistic vision leaves it to his readers to imagine the better world he won't let himself depict on the pages of this wonderful novel.

Good. Molly. Hey. We have something for your list. Orgasm with another person.

Good. Molly. Hey. We have something for your list. Orgasm with another person.

Good. Molly. Hey. We have something for your list. Orgasm with another person.

In the German legend, Faust signs a contract with the devil, exchanging his immortal soul for vast knowledge and other earthly rewards. It's a cut-and-dried transaction. In Daniel Kelman's new novel, The Director, The demonic deal-making is murkier, more drawn out. Little by little, a series of compromises eat away like acid at the integrity of a once great artist.

In the German legend, Faust signs a contract with the devil, exchanging his immortal soul for vast knowledge and other earthly rewards. It's a cut-and-dried transaction. In Daniel Kelman's new novel, The Director, The demonic deal-making is murkier, more drawn out. Little by little, a series of compromises eat away like acid at the integrity of a once great artist.

In the German legend, Faust signs a contract with the devil, exchanging his immortal soul for vast knowledge and other earthly rewards. It's a cut-and-dried transaction. In Daniel Kelman's new novel, The Director, The demonic deal-making is murkier, more drawn out. Little by little, a series of compromises eat away like acid at the integrity of a once great artist.

Not only is Kelman's rendering of the Faustian bargain more psychologically plausible than the original, but it takes its inspiration from a true life story. The director is an historical novel based on the life of G.W. Pabst, the early film director who worked with actresses like Louise Brooks, Lottie Lenya, and Greta Garbo.

Not only is Kelman's rendering of the Faustian bargain more psychologically plausible than the original, but it takes its inspiration from a true life story. The director is an historical novel based on the life of G.W. Pabst, the early film director who worked with actresses like Louise Brooks, Lottie Lenya, and Greta Garbo.

Not only is Kelman's rendering of the Faustian bargain more psychologically plausible than the original, but it takes its inspiration from a true life story. The director is an historical novel based on the life of G.W. Pabst, the early film director who worked with actresses like Louise Brooks, Lottie Lenya, and Greta Garbo.