“The past and the future are her playground, and she relays an open invitation to all who seek a daring museum experience.” Continue reading Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster 1887–2058, by Emma Lavigne @NYJB
Ms. Müller won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2009. The Swedish Academy awarded it because her writing is imbued “with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.” Despite the spies, surveillance, and tyranny, the Romania she presents appears like a fairy tale. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: The Fox Was Ever the Hunter, by Herta Muller @NYJB
“Ezra Pound: Poet: Volume III: The Tragic Years 1939–1972,” by A. David Moody chronicles Pound’s life from his Italian residency prior to the outbreak of World War II to his death. Continue reading Ezra Pound: Poet: Volume III: The Tragic Years 1939–1972, by A. David Moody @ NYJB
Michèle Audin’s debut novel “One Hundred Twenty-One Days” is a story about mathematics and love. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: One Hundred Twenty-One Days by Michele Audin
Life in the Folds by Henri Michaux is “a masterpiece of concision and pain. . . . a literary achievement . . .” Continue reading Forgotten Classics: Life in the Folds, by Henri Michaux @ NYJB
Eldon Fochs is a Provost in the Corporation of the Blood of the Lamb, also known as “Bloodites.” The fictional Bloodite religion bears outward features to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with recommendation cards for entry into temple ceremonies and a hierarchy of leadership. Fochs visits Alexander Feshtig, a devout Bloodite psychiatrist, in order to curtail his disturbing thoughts and bad dreams. This visit sets off a chain of events that lay bare unspeakable evils in Father of Lies by Brian Evenson’s. Originally written in 1998, Father of Lies was reprinted by Coffee House Press along … Continue reading Father of Lies, by Brian Evenson @ NYJB
The Argument David Bowie’s recent death has closed a page on music history. On a more personal level, Bowie has been a constant in my life for decades. Beyond mere 80s nostalgia (Labyrinth) or 90s nostalgia (Lost Highway, Outside, and Earthling), Bowie has been instrumental to me personally as a taste-maker. He led me down strange avenues and provided the raw material for discovery and aesthetic experimentation. Embryo My fascinating with David Bowie began early. I can still remember the first Bowie album I bought, sometime in the Nineties. It was a CD of Tonight (1984), an album even Bowie … Continue reading Critic’s Notebook: David Bowie and the Physiology of Taste
This week I review Norman Mailer’s selected letters, giving a new perspective on an iconic and controversial author. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: Selected Letters of Norman Mailer, edited by J. Michael Lennon
“Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace,” by David Lipsky offers a unique look into the mind of an amazing writer. Continue reading Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, by David Lipsky
“Liberation,” edited and with an introduction by Mark Ludwig, casts a global net to find out what poets think about the concept of freedom. Continue reading Liberation, Edited and Introduced by Mark Ludwig
The Driftless Area Review 