Guilt is an ambivalent engine. Besides being that which a court of law might determine, guilt can weigh a spirit down, drive a person in unexpected directions, and linger far past any hint of external judgment. But perhaps the most hazardous situation is when a person acts in the total absence of guilt, incapable of carrying any blame at all. This month, Booked & Printed explores protagonists measuring their relationships to their own culpability, or their unwillingness to take responsibility for it. Every once in a while, a main character emerges into contemporary literature like a festering boil from a

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