An essay exploring agency and identity of “freaks” in early modern Europe. Continue reading Reflections in Gold and Mud: Monstrosity, Agency, and Stability in Early Modern Europe
Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology, by Lawrence Weschler Vintage Books (1995) “[A] small nondescript storefront operation located along the main commercial drag of downtown Culver City in the middle of West Los Angeles’s endless pseudo-urban sprawl: the Museum of Jurassic Technology, according to the fading blue banner facing the street.” Lawrence Weschler, a staff writer for The New Yorker, describes the otherwise anonymous location for one of the oddest museums on the American landscape. He details the exhibits of the Museum and the life of its creator, … Continue reading American Odd: Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Others Marvels of Jurassic Technology, by Lawrence Welschler
A glorious omnibus of America’s strange subcultural denizens. Continue reading American Odd: Food Court Druids, Cherohonkees, and Other Creatures Unique to the Republic, by Robert Lanham
Set in the criminal shadow world behind luxury hotels, Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi follows four friends in their attempt to transcend the poverty and violence of their surroundings. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Eve Out of Her Ruins, by Ananda Devi @NYJB
An essay about Mary Nohl, a unique “outsider” artist of Milwaukee, WI. Continue reading American Odd: Mary Nohl
God, the cause of and solution to, all our problems. Continue reading Espresso Shots: Our Great Big American God, by Matthew Paul Turner
“Household Workers Unite,” by Premilla Nadasen is an important work of revisionist labor history. It focuses on the African American women who had been invisible to both American labor history and the American labor movement in general. Continue reading Espresso Shots: Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement, by Premilla Nadasen
“Beauty Mark” chronicles Marilyn Monroe’s life with a reassuring simplicity and accessibility. Continue reading Espresso Shots: Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe, by Carole Boston Weatherford
A fragmentary meditation on death and decay, “Of Darkness” by Josefine Klougart stretches the concept of fictional narrative to its very limits. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Of Darkness, by Josefine Klougart @ NYJB
What a difference a year makes. I’ll keep this short. Looking over the stats, my blog posts had a serious dip after 2017. In 2016 there were 85 posts, the following year there were 41 posts. But I’ve had a number of personal disruptions, including moving from Minnesota to Wisconsin and dealing with the Covid pandemic. The pandemic has brought, to use a vague term, workplace challenges. Suffice to say, I’ve had to re-prioritize things. The full-time job takes priority, especially now, given the fragile economic state we’re experiencing. The second major priority is not getting Covid. Both these take … Continue reading January 2020 Update
