The Driftless Area Review is moving to Milwaukee!
The Driftless Area Review is moving to Milwaukee! Continue reading The Driftless Area Review is moving to Milwaukee!
Category: food
Commonplace Book: The Art of Seduction and the Joy of Cooking from Titus Andronicus
William Shakespeare’s version of eat, pray, and love … or in this case: lust, prey, and cannibalism. Continue reading Commonplace Book: The Art of Seduction and the Joy of Cooking from Titus Andronicus
CCLaP Fridays: Anything That Moves, by Dana Goodyear
This week at CCLaP, I review Anything That Moves: Renegade Chefs, Fearless Eaters, and the Making of a New American Food Culture, by Dana Goodyear, that encompasses everything from anti-FDA crusaders to luxury chefs in Vegas to seekers of illegal whale meat. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: Anything That Moves, by Dana Goodyear
Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London, and the Birth of the Modern City, by Jonathan Conlin @ NYRB
This week at the New York Journal of Books, I review Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London, and the Birth of the Modern City, by Jonathan Conlin, which is “. . . an entertaining account that strings together fascinating factoids into a tapestry of urban history and cultural anthropology.” Continue reading Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London, and the Birth of the Modern City, by Jonathan Conlin @ NYRB
On the Noodle Road, by Jen Lin-Liu @ NYJB
At the New York Journal of Books, I review On the Noodle Road, by Jen Lin-Liu, which is “. . . a fascinating exploration of some lesser-known corners of the Asian continent and a portrait of a marriage under extreme circumstances . . .” Continue reading On the Noodle Road, by Jen Lin-Liu @ NYJB
A Cultural History of the Chinese Language, by Sharron Gu
A Cultural History of the Chinese Language by Sharron Gu attempts to provide a means for non-specialists to approach Chinese, not from the technical and scientific discipline of linguistics, but from the discipline of literary history. Continue reading A Cultural History of the Chinese Language, by Sharron Gu
What I Hate: from A to Z, by Roz Chast
The world is a scary place. Roz Chast latest book, What I Hate: from A to Z, is her alphabetic exploration of her panaphobic panoply of paranoia-inducing pictures. Her fears run the gamut of the familiar (heights, getting lost, and nightmares) to the unusual (spontaneous human combustion, balloons, and Jello 1-2-3). Each entry has a short introduction opposite the illustrated page. There are single panels and other pages cluttered with details. In one introduction, she explains her fear of rabies originating in children’s literature. She writes, “On an ideal planet, children’s books wouldn’t be censored for references to sex, but … Continue reading What I Hate: from A to Z, by Roz Chast
Notes from Irrelevance, by Anselm Berrigan
Genealogy Anselm Berrigan comes from an esteemed family. The son of poet Ted Berrigan and poet Alice Notley, his brother is the poet and songwriter Edmund Berrigan. Anselm’s wife Karen Weiser also works as a poet. Notes from Irrelevance shows that Anselm didn’t get his book deal by trading on his father’s name. (America, despite its populist and egalitarian posturing, has a yen for dynasties and nepotism. See: the Presidency, Ford Motor Company, etc.) Content Notes from Irrelevance could easily bear the subtitle, “One man’s search for meaning in the second decade of the 21st century.” Throughout the short … Continue reading Notes from Irrelevance, by Anselm Berrigan
Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice, by Kazim Ali
Food is one of the essential requirements for existence. One cannot go about one’s daily business without caloric intake. However, beyond the needs food fulfils, one takes pleasure in eating. That is why people read restaurant reviews or watch No Reservations. Food also represents a mirror of a specific place, culture, and personality. Why a book entitled Fasting for Ramadan has recipes in the back also requires explanation. Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice by Kazim Ali is a stunning literary jewel. An extended meditation on the Muslim practice of fasting during the month of Ramadan has appeal … Continue reading Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice, by Kazim Ali
The Double Life of Alfred Buber by David Schmahmann
KUMAR(to Goldstein)Well, if you have the yellow fever tonight, there’s a rocking Asian party over at Princeton tonight. GOLDSTEIN Man, I have the yellow plague. There’s nothing sexier than a hot Asian chick…or dude for that matter… Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (Danny Leiner, 2004), script by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg A commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (1867) by Karl Marx A Woman of Property David Schmahmann … Continue reading The Double Life of Alfred Buber by David Schmahmann
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