Latest news with #HalEbbott
New Statesman
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
From Andrea Long Chu to Alayo Akinkugbe: new books reviewed in short
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott They say that if a friendship lasts seven years, it is likely to last a lifetime. How solid must a relationship be if it has lasted three decades? Amos and Emerson believe they share an unbreakable bond that saw them through their early twenties to their fifties: the wild days of college, first serious relationships and the births of their daughters. Not even their differing backgrounds could shake the foundations of their friendship. Or so they thought. Emerson is a lawyer, Amos a psychiatrist, and they both pass their time in the comfort of New York City wealth. But their picture-perfect life is about to face a challenge not many relationships can survive as Emerson's 52nd birthday celebrations begin. Hal Ebbott's roman d'analyse-style debut resurfaces old rivalries and resentments, be it class, marriage or power. All the characters repeatedly strive for something real and emotive as if acutely aware of their daily artifice – and they experience that reality with a shocking act of violence and betrayal. Ebbott grants the readers an intimate insight into thoughts vs actions that will leave you questioning your oldest friendships. Picador, 320pp, £18.99. Buy the book. By Zuzanna Lachendro Reframing Blackness: What's Black about 'History of Art'? by Alayo Akinkugbe Are museums white spaces? Does the education system limit our exposure to black artists? Does feminist art completely disregard intersectionality? These are questions posed and answered by Alayo Akinkugbe in Reframing Blackness. Conceived in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, this book is a study of the cultural shift that followed his death, and focuses on the erasure of blackness from art history. Akinkugbe moves the subject of blackness in art from the periphery to centre frame. Her criticism blends anecdote and academia, imploring the reader to consider the way we engage with art, skewed as it is by a Eurocentric perspective. Akinkugbe brings attention to art surrounding blackness that has been largely ignored while still acknowledging earlier criticism of these works. The book addresses the omissions in the history of art where blackness has been deliberately effaced. Ending with a call to action, Reframing Blackness is a manifesto to promote diversity and reform in the ways we think, educate and engage with art history. Merky Books, 176pp, £20. Buy the book. By Gabriella Berkeley-Agyepong Authority: Essays on Being Right by Andrea Long Chu Reviewing The Fraud in 2023, Andrea Long Chu wrote that Zadie Smith had lost her teeth. Chu's own Pulitzer Prize-winning work often tackles authors, TV shows, gender ideology, and even Andrew Lloyd Webber. To sum up Chu's style as 'takedowns' would be a disservice. Rather, it's a careful dismantling of revered cultural figures, the zeitgeist, and liberal society in general. Her writing is razor-sharp, personal, and vociferous in its proclamations, but it's also fun – it's got bite. Authority is a collection of essays written between 2018 and 2024, including the breakout 'On Liking Women', which interrogates Chu's gender transition. Republished seven years later, it reminds us of how barbed this topic has become. Many of the pieces have been published – a large number in New York magazine, where Chu is a book critic. But there are two newly penned essays that act as a battle cry for criticism and a rally against the neutrality of 'the far centre' – a place where Chu feels art and politics languish without conviction. But take all this with a pinch of salt, for, as Chu writes, 'The critic may be witty or insightful or engaging or well-read or widely admired or a true virtuoso – but what she will never be is decidedly right.' Hutchinson Heinemann, 288pp, £20. Buy the book. By Catharine Hughes The Place of Shells by Mai Ishizawa How can someone be dead and yet present? That is the question Mai Ishizawa's protagonist, and the reader, ask themselves. In the middle of the pandemic in Göttingen, Germany, a young Japanese woman studying for her PhD is confronted with her past. When a friend who died in the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami unexpectedly shows up at the train station, he triggers a series of unexpected events: the appearance of mysterious guests, eerie objects showing up in the nearby forest, and time's threads unravelling. But it's not just the protagonist who is forced to face her trauma. Flatmates, friends and neighbours turn to days gone by and begin to unpack the burdens they have been carrying, blending past and present. Ishizawa's poetic prose embraces art along with both Japanese and German culture, and her novel becomes a hypnotic dissection of memory, trauma and belonging that many will relate to. Though face masks make a regular appearance, the narrative comes across as timeless, perhaps because the story seems suspended in a timeline of its own. Did any of this happen? Or was it all just a manifestation of the grief many of us have experienced during times of global crisis? Sceptre, 160pp, £16.99. Buy the book. By Zuzanna Lachendro [See also: 150 years of the bizarre Hans Christian Andersen] Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related
Irish Times
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott: echoes of the dead giants of American literature
Among Friends Author : Hal Ebbott ISBN-13 : 9781035055432 Publisher : Picador Guideline Price : £16.99 Towards the end of the 20th century, American literature was dominated by straight white men who published Important Books. The holy trinity of Updike , Roth and Mailer wrote about masculinity as an ideal, and while the work will endure, their era is decidedly over. So it was something of a surprise to read Hal Ebbott's debut, which feels heavily influenced by the ghosts of writers past. Amos and Emerson – even their names are weighted in white privilege and old money – have been best buds since college, not least because the latter introduced his childhood friend Claire to the former, and they married. Along with Emerson's wife Retsy, the two couples have been close for decades, bringing up their daughters, Sophie and Anna, almost as sisters. Therefore, it's devastating for all when a weekend at Emerson's home leads to an allegation that he sexually assaulted Amos's daughter, the knots of friendship immediately shattering. What follows is a study of male friendship but also of the responsibilities we hold towards our children. When Anna tells her parents what took place, they're horrified but, curiously, it's Amos who believes her while Claire thinks she's making it up in a teenage bid for attention. READ MORE Ebbott digs deep into the psyches of both men but a strong premise suffers from the novel's lack of narrative development. It might be deliberate, but both couples are so alike that it becomes difficult to tell them apart. In fact, I had to make a note of who was who, and who was the offspring of whom, which is odd considering there's only six characters involved, and I found myself referring to this reminder repeatedly. Is this because Ebbott is implying that all men are potential predators and that what Emerson did to Anna, Amos could have done to Sophie? If that's the idea, it's not sufficiently explored, and if it's not, then greater distinctions between the four might have been drawn. Ebbott can certainly write – there's a depth to his paragraphs that demands the reader's careful attention – but it all feels a little old-fashioned, recalling those dead giants while giving a sense that Among Friends would have been a footnote in their bibliographies.
Washington Post
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
‘Among Friends' captures the joy and danger of intimacy
Men: think of your closest friend, the person who knows you best, with whom you feel the most comfortable. Your pal, your bud, your homie. What is the basis of your friendship? What would it take to rupture the years of trust and confidence between you? What would you be willing to forgive in order to maintain that relationship? Is there a circumstance in which you might choose your friend over a member of your own family? These are the questions at the heart of Hal Ebbott's stylish and assured debut novel. Arriving at a moment when there is a widely-discussed crisis in male friendship, 'Among Friends' is a timely book, placing such a relationship at the center of its narrative.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Compulsive Contemporaries to read now: Thirst Trap by Grainne O'Hare, Among Friends by Hal Ebbott, Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild
Thirst Trap by Grainne O'Hare (Picador £16.99, 288pp) Flatmates and Irish party girls Roise, Harley and Maggie are turning 30. Having spent their twenties drinking their way around the bars of Belfast and engaging in a string of chaotic love affairs, they are now grieving Lydia, the fourth member of their gang who died in a car accident a year ago. The nights get wilder as they try to block out their grief rather than process it and the days become darker as a result. The main reason the friends find it almost impossible to move on is because they had a hideous fight with Lydia just before her death and can't stop ruminating over the bad memories. It's compulsively readable and brilliant on friendship and grief. I raced through it. Among Friends by Hal Ebbott (Picador £16.99, 320pp) Emerson and Amos have been best friends since meeting on the first day of college 30 years ago. Although from very different backgrounds, the relationship between the men has only deepened as more time passes. Their wives are friends too and their daughters have grown up together – they are so close that people envy their friendship. Both men live in New York, are wealthy and successful and relish their regular meet-ups. During one of these weekends away with their families, a shocking act is committed that threatens to destroy everything they have built. It turns out that what looks solid and unshakeable on the outside is fragile and changeable on the inside, not so impervious to tension and toxicity as imagined. Childhood trauma, competitiveness and shifting power dynamics have been long buried but are not dead. It's beautifully written and packs a huge emotional punch. I couldn't put it down and kept thinking about it long after I finished. Brilliant. Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild (John Murray £16.99, 336pp) Honor is so desperate for a second child that she finds it difficult to focus on the gorgeous three-year-old she already has, Chloe. Honor's successful husband Tom is also feeling neglected. While their small family is spending Christmas at the Ritz in Paris, Honor is obsessed with finding out whether their surrogate is pregnant or not. After a row with Tom, Honor takes Chloe down for breakfast on their own. When the unthinkable happens, Tom is left agonising over how things might have been. A few years later, Tom's life has changed in every way. He finally feels like he might be able to move on when he uncovers a secret that he can't leave alone, and everything changes again. It's full of wisdom and stuffed with unpredictable twists and turns that kept me engrossed to the end.
