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
Venice, renown the world over for its beauty and riches, becomes the setting for Gabrielle Wittkop’s Murder Most Serene. The slim novella opens in the latter days of the Serene Republic of Venice, in 1796. Corruption, both moral and physical, run rampant, creating a fetid atmosphere of gorgeous decay and depravity. Events center around the unfortunate household of Count Alvise Lanzi, an elderly bookish aristocrat whose wives mysteriously end up dying. The mysterious deaths are not investigated Agatha Christie-style, but create a curdled and festering air of conspiracy and rumor. This isn’t Venice with beautiful sunsets and romance on the … Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Murder Most Serene, by Gabrielle Wittkop @ NYJB
I review books on Hitler’s domestic spaces and how Germany deals with 4 centuries of history over at the New York Journal of Books. Continue reading 2 books on Germany @ NYJB
Richard Hell makes his voice known on subjects as diverse as film, music, art, September 11, and photography. He calls his new essay collection Massive Pissed Love: Nonfiction 2001–2014 and in the Author’s Note, he likens arranging the essays to … Continue reading Massive Pissed Love: Nonfiction 2001–2014, by Richard Hell @ NYJB
“The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government” by David Talbot is a book chronicling the collision of two powerful dynasties, the Dulles family and the Kennedy family. Continue reading The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government, by David Talbot @ NYJB
“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
This week I review a dictionary of political speak, a primer for what passes as political discourse in this country. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs, and Washington Handshakes: Decoding the Jargon, Slang, and Bluster of American Political Speech, by Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark
The Driftless Area Review 