Still hammering away at the keyboard at age 74, T.C. Boyle still maintains his place as America’s grand poobah of literary fiction, particularly displaying his mastery in the short story genre; and this most recent collection of 13 tightly crafted slices of life intermixed with occasional forays into his beloved magical realism prove that he is still at the top of his game.
A review of The Swift Dark Tide by Katia Ariel
There is a clear narrative arc that drives the reading forward quickly, but the writing is so sensual and languid that it creates a resistance to that progression. So much transformation happens in the gaps between the action – looking at the ocean, in the silent space of memory, in a moment after birth while looking into a newborn’s face, or even small moments of mindfulness such as noticing the pure green of a paediatrician’s jumper, or a seaweed crown “mossy garlands the circumference of an adult head” floating on the surface of the water.
A review of Ivan and Phoebe by Oksana Lutsyshyna
The language of the novel is captivating and Lutsyshyna creates deep characters and vivid storyline twists while unlocking her talent as a perceptive poet. Lutsyshyna’s depictions of nature landscapes are truly prose poetry.
A review of One Day We’re All Going to Die by Elise Esther Hearst
Deceptively easy to read, One day we’re all going to die is a rich, complex book that encompasses family and connection, friendships, privilege, survival in the face of inherited trauma, Judaism, culture, modern life, and the healing power of creativity. If that seems like a lot, it doesn’t feel like it. Hearst handles it all with ease, and the book is a light-hearted joy.
Exhortation: A Review of Live in Suspense by David Groff
The title, Live in Suspense, is an exhortation, a demand that we live in suspense as he attempts to do. He explores suspense as an artefact, quoting Emily Dickinson and Oscar Wilde, Dickinson emphasizing the unending nature of suspense and the contrast of “annihilation” and “immortality,” Wilde calling suspense “terrible,” then saying, “I hope it will last.”
An interview with Joe Hutchison
The erstwhile Poet Laureate of Colorado talks about the life of a Poet Laureate & that monster paycheck, Marked Men and the Sand Creek Massacre, A nightmare with Colonel Chivington, William Carlos Williams and Ted Kooser, “Buy local” *What’s a good poem?* Creepy metaphors, Wergle Flomp, University teaching; graduate poets, when bad poetry hits big and much more.
A review of Trouble For Sale by Maina Wahome
As the fast-paced story unfolds in a movie-like style in a fictitious country that Kimindero calls “Mother Nyeka”, the reader is presented with an opportunity to question and smell the crudeness, controversies and dishonesties of some of the characters. For instance, Watoro mockingly refers to Kimendero as “Minister of Fairness”, a former government official who happens to have been jailed at one time for misappropriating public funds.
Singing From the Jugular: Review of The Book of Redacted Paintings by Arthur Kayzakian
The collection gives us a cohesive, quiet voice of a narrator who seems at times to not necessarily want to talk to us. We’re faced with an internal negotiation, and perhaps finally reconciliation, with one’s own version of truth. The loops of memory – there is repetition in many of the poems – tease us with the fact that history is only ever a partial account of events.
A review of Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville
Restless Dolly Maunder is an easy and fast-paced read. It may be labelled as fiction, and certainly Grenville uses all of her narrative capabilities to create such a compelling character, but the book is as much a story of Australia’s history as it is the tale of a strong, intelligent and thwarted woman whose struggles helped transform the lives of generations to follow.
An Interview with Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki
The author of Dancing Into the Light: An Arab-American Girlhood in the Middle East talks about her new book, what it was like growing up with parents who had two very different cultural backgrounds and other childhood memories, dispelling stereotypes, grief and families, dancing, and lots more.