Buck Studies by Douglas Kearney @ NYJB
“Buck Studies” is “a potent cocktail of political anger and radical formal experimentation.” Continue reading Buck Studies by Douglas Kearney @ NYJB
Category: fiction
The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & Pain, by Mark Z. Danielewski @ NYJB
When does an experimental novel become formulaic? Is formula inherently a bad thing? When will Xanther give the little one a name? Continue reading The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & Pain, by Mark Z. Danielewski @ NYJB
CCLaP Fridays: Cthulhu Fhtagn! by Ross E. Lockhart
In this uncertain age filled with terrorism, racial tension, police brutality, and political strongmen, the Lovecraftian Mythos is almost reassuring. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: Cthulhu Fhtagn! by Ross E. Lockhart
Last Look by Charles Burns @ NYJB
“Last Look” is a cold indictment of pretentious frauds yet an intimate exploration of fear, regret, and failure. Continue reading Last Look by Charles Burns @ NYJB
Scriptorium: Poems, by Melissa Range @ NYJB
“Scriptorium” is a rare and beautiful collection of poetry. Continue reading Scriptorium: Poems, by Melissa Range @ NYJB
American Odd: Three Wogs, by Alexander Theroux
This week I continue my essay series American Odd by looking at “Three Wogs,” by Alexander Theroux, a comic novel about race relations in the UK. Continue reading American Odd: Three Wogs, by Alexander Theroux
The Art of Reviewing: Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays, by Cynthia Ozick
Like Updike, Anthony Burgess, and Vladimir Nabokov, Cynthia Ozick writes reviews with lush prose, each essay a stimulant to those seeking the beautiful interplay of ideas, language, and strong opinions. Continue reading The Art of Reviewing: Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays, by Cynthia Ozick
American Odd: Henry Darger: Selected Art and Writings, by Michael Bonesteel
This week I continue my American Odd essay series with a look at Chicago-area artist and recluse Henry Darger. Continue reading American Odd: Henry Darger: Selected Art and Writings, by Michael Bonesteel
IRL by Tommy Pico @NYJB
Whipsawing between passages of erotic ecstasy and suicidal despair, “IRL” by Tommy “Teebs” Pico reveals itself as a monument of self-lacerating beauty. Continue reading IRL by Tommy Pico @NYJB
Translation Tuesdays: The Fox Was Ever the Hunter, by Herta Muller @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
The Driftless Area Review 