Washington Post Reviews "Whirling Debut Novel" by Prof. Lili Wright

July 19, 2016

"Shuffling quietly through the cool halls of any great museum, patrons have little sense of the moral quagmire that lies behind such collections," writes Ron Charles in the Washington Post. "And who can blame them? Everything about the way invaluable artifacts are displayed -- so immaculate in their glass cases -- isolates these objects from the violence of acquisition. But that dirty backstory is the heart of Lili Wright’s whirling debut novel, Dancing with the Tiger."

Charles, the editor of Book World, continues, "A journalist and a professor at DePauw University, Wright captures the bloody intrigue that brought -- and sometimes still brings -- priceless archaeological treasures to the 'civilized' world. This is the story of how looted objects and sordid motives are purified for public consumption. In other words, how we can look at the uprooted icons of a foreign culture and feel nothing but delight."

The reviewer states that there a number of "valuable insights to unearth in this wild novel."

You'll find the complete piece at the Post's website.

Professor Wright has penned an essay on the making of her new book for Signature. Access "How a Night Class in Spanish Led to a Novel in Mexico" here.

Released last week, Dancing with the Tiger is on a National Geographic list of "12 Travel Books to Read Before Summer Is Over." Read more here.

Source: Washington Post

Back