Critical Appraisals: Disinheritance: Poems, by John Sibley Williams
“Disinheritance” is John Sibley Williams’s rumination on death and grief. Continue reading Critical Appraisals: Disinheritance: Poems, by John Sibley Williams
Category: Critical Appraisals
Critical Appraisals: Nauseating Allegories of Empire: the Victory of sex & Metal by Barbara Mor
Barbara Mor’s new volume of poetry is angry, volcanic, and erudite. Continue reading Critical Appraisals: Nauseating Allegories of Empire: the Victory of sex & Metal by Barbara Mor
The Spirits of Milwaukee: Great Lakes Distillery and Central Standard Craft Distillery
Milwaukee has become a foodie haven and is known for its food and beverages. Milwaukee is home to not only beer but spirits. And really good spirits at that. Continue reading The Spirits of Milwaukee: Great Lakes Distillery and Central Standard Craft Distillery
On Being Human Redux: Notes on “Orphan Black”
An occasional series that is a continuation of my essay anthology, On Being Human: critical looks at books and movies that examine the question of humanity. (Buy the limited edition hardcover, Kindle version, or download it for free at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography.) Via Orphan Black: Season 3 will be premiering on April 18, 2015 on BBC America. Below are a series of notes on Seasons 1 and 2. Due to the nature of these essays, they contain many spoilers, major and minor. If you haven’t seen the series, I would suggest watching it before reading these … Continue reading On Being Human Redux: Notes on “Orphan Black”
Critical Appraisals: A Spy in the Ruins, by Christopher Bernard
A Spy in the Ruins by Christopher Bernard constructs a postapocalyptic anti-narrative replete with verbal richness, political aggression, and erotic tenderness. Continue reading Critical Appraisals: A Spy in the Ruins, by Christopher Bernard
Years of Renewal (1999) by Henry Kissinger
The final volume of Kissinger’s memoirs details his tenure in the Ford Administration, along with my analysis on our current foreign policy situation and what conservatism has become. Continue reading Years of Renewal (1999) by Henry Kissinger
Critical Appraisals: Death on the Installment Plan by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
During the Thirties, Louis-Ferdinand Céline shocked the literary establishment with the release of two novels: Journey to the End of the Night (1932) and Death on the Installment Plan (1936). Both novels acted as companions to each other, focusing on different parts of re-imagined autobiographical material set within fictional narratives. Ralph Manheim, the translator of Death on the Installment Plan, dubbed the genre “creative confessions.” The original French title is Mort à crédit, a staccato-sounding title that became translated as Death on Credit by John H. P. Marks. The book braids together the strands of comedy, despair, and debt, since … Continue reading Critical Appraisals: Death on the Installment Plan by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Years of Upheaval (1981) by Henry Kissinger
A Second Term and a Third-rate Burglary Now Watergate does not bother me Does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth. “Sweet Home Alabama,” Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974) Years of Upheaval, the second volume of memoirs by Henry Kissinger, continues his personal account of public service, spanning the time of Nixon’s re-election to Nixon’s resignation following the Watergate scandal. The memoirs record a short span of time although it encompasses a plethora of geopolitical, domestic, and personal events. In the words of Homer Simpson, this volume has it all, “the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles.” Riding on … Continue reading Years of Upheaval (1981) by Henry Kissinger
Critical Appraisal: The Landscape of Hell
The representation of Hell as a cartographic region has its origins in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante adapted the imagery already present in medieval painting and sculpture to comment on his political situation and his own scientific and theological beliefs. He populated it with real people, including political heroes and villains, good popes and bad popes, adulterous princesses, and monsters human and mythological. On Dante’s spiritual journey, he traveled with the Roman poet Vergil down the various circles of Hell and then up Mount Purgatory. Finally, led by his beloved Beatrice, he journeyed through the heavenly spheres until he was in … Continue reading Critical Appraisal: The Landscape of Hell
Essays on Capital, First Series: Essay One
Essay 1: Capital and the historical moment From commodities to citizens. O garment not golden but gilded, O garden where all men may dwell, O tower not of ivory, but builded By hands that reach heaven from hell; O mystical rose of the mire, O house not of gold but of gain, O house of unquenchable fire, Our Lady of Pain! “Dolores (Notre-Dame des Sept Douleurs)”, Algernon Charles Swinburne (1866) The Civil War: Revolution in Labor Relations The Civil War ended in 1865 bringing about the cessation of hostilities between the United States and the Confederacy. After four years and … Continue reading Essays on Capital, First Series: Essay One
The Driftless Area Review 