“These are years of a turning in human affairs which can never be changed again”

In their immense vanity, Satan’s own have overreached themselves, and now they are in the net, and they will never free themselves again. That is the fact, and this it is that rejoices my heart. I hate you. I hate waking and sleeping; I hate you for undoing men’s souls, and for spoiling their lives; I hate you as the sworn enemy of the laughter of men…. Oh, it is God’s deadly enemy which I see, and hate, in you.

—From Fredrich Reck’s Diary of a Man in Despair, which goes on-sale today. This is from the June 1941 entry, describing his reaction to the Nazis after he has heard Goebbels “declaring war on yesterday’s allies.” Check out a review of Diary on Bookslut and a podcast on the book at The Mookse and the Gripes.

The Mookse and the Gripes talk NYRB in 2013 →

“It’s always exciting to see what NYRB Classics has coming out. In this episode we look at what they’ll be releasing from January to June 2013. Which three did Brian put a frowny face next to? What are our most anticipated releases?”

Lit blog The Mookse and the Gripes discusses Butcher's Crossing →

Lit blog and big NYRB Classics fan The Mookse and the Gripes has started a podcast featuring our books. The first post is on Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams (author of Stoner), and up next will be Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time of Gifts. Follow the discussions by subscribing to their podcast on iTunes, or just keep your eye on their site. We know we will.

NYRB Forum set up by The Mookse and the Gripes →

Memoirs of a Revolutionary reviewed

It doesn’t happen very often, but I love it when I pick up a book simply planning to scan the first few pages and find myself still reading an hour later.  It’s wonderful to get completely swept away, and I must say it was completely unexpected when I picked up anarchist Victor Serge’s Memoirs of a Revolutionary (Mémoires d’un révolutionnaire, 1951; tr. from the French by Peter Sedgwick with George Paizis; 2012).  I don’t know why I expected this book to be somewhat dry; this is an NYRB Classic, after all, and one thing I’ve learned is that their books are first and foremost superbly written in a manner that utilizes language to capture the reader.

  - from a review of Victor Serge’s Memoirs of a Revolutionary in The Mookse and the Gripes blog. Read the rest of the review here, it’s the kind we like best.