HMHeller McAlpin

1. Article · Aug 26, 2026 · Heller McAlpin

   'Life of M' constructs a portrait of how stardom hides a person's core (opens the original)

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   Rachel Cusk, a Canadian-born British writer, has stretched the boundaries of fiction with a series of interrogatory, deliberately plotless short novels, the best known of which is her Outline trilogy. It's a hard row to keep hoeing. Life of M ventures in a slightly new, rather tricky direction. The unnamed narrator of this 13th novel -- a writer eager to break out of a slump -- proposes to a famous actor, dubbed M, to write her autobiography. The actor, whom the writer barely knows, asks amicabl

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2. Article · Jul 17, 2026 · Heller McAlpin

   'I Want You to Be Happy' takes on modern-day dating (opens the original)

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   English writer Jem Calder's debut novel, I Want You To Be Happy, reports from the frontlines of modern-day dating. His book is good – but the news is not. A man in his mid-30s who recently broke off his engagement with his longtime girlfriend meets a young woman at a crowded London bar. He's a copywriter, she's a 23-year-old barista. Despite his intention not to talk about his breakup, he finds himself "shouting specific details directly in her ear." "Pretty intense," she yells back. He apologiz

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