Desiderata: 2011, Our Favorite Debuts
By Thstaff | December 27th, 2011 – 11:00 am
Concluding our weeklong look in the mirror, we bring you the titles that gave us the most pleasure in 2011.
Emma Komlos-Hrobsky (Editorial Assistant, Tin House Magazine): This year, I read a number of great books I meant to read long ago–The Painted Veil, The Member of the Wedding, Into the Wild, Adrian Tomine’s Shortcomings–but the one that surprised me most was Treasure Island. I started reading it as part of conscious project of studying action-driven plot, but was taken in instead by the subtle drawing of its characters and their misdeeds. There’s something Austen-y about Stevenson’s pirate society, but drunk and with guns.