Author Archive

I Have To Tell You

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I Have To Tell You Victoria Hetherington 0s&1s, 2014 69,000 words $6.00 Buy: ebook While reading Victoria Hetherington’s novel, I Have To Tell You, I occasionally found myself wanting to shake one or two of the characters for a host of self-destructive behaviors and dysfunctional relationships. And just as

Jimmy’s Blues and Other Poems

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Jimmy’s Blues and Other Poems James Baldwin Beacon Press, April 2014 120 pages $16.00 Buy: book | ebook The cover of Jimmy’s Blues and Other Poems features blurbs by none other than Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, telling the world to read this book. I’ll be honest; I feel like I

Lungs Full of Noise

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Lungs Full of Noise Tessa Mellas University of Iowa Press, October 2013 128 pages $17.00 Buy: book | ebook In one of Tessa Mellas’s stories, a woman gives birth to a plant-baby. While everyone else is a little perplexed, the mother looks at the newborn—his green skin, leaves and

Days in the History of Silence

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Days in the History of Silence Merethe Lindstrom Other Press, August 2013 240 pages $14.95 Buy: book | ebook I’m not very familiar with Norwegian literature, so I can’t comment on whether Merethe Lindstrom’s Days in the History of Silence follows the typical conventions of Norwegian novels. What I

The Winged Seed

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The Winged Seed Li-Young Lee BOA Editions, April 2013 200 pages $16.00 Reading Li-Young Lee’s The Winged Seed reminded me of an argument by economist Tyler Cowen. Cowen cautions against our propensity to impose narrative on everything. He claims that life is not a story but a mess, and

The Declarable Future

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The Declarable Future Jennifer Boyden University of Wisconsin Press, May 2013 112 pages $16.95 When I teach poetry, I often turn to Jennifer Boyden‘s work for startling images, masterfully paced tension and complicated, big subjects rendered accessible. The Declarable Future—Boyden’s second book of poems—not only showcases this signature voice

The Shelter of Neighbours

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The Shelter of Neighbours Eilis Ni Dhuibhne Blackstaff Press, September 2012 288 pages $27.95 One page into Eilis Ni Dhuibhne’s The Shelter of Neighbours I laughed out loud. And then, two stories later, with a carload of train passengers glancing my way, another audible chuckle. My laughing and grinning