The Radix, by Brett King @ Joe Bob Briggs
If you liked “the Da Vinci Code” or similar books involving conspiracies and ancient artifacts, “The Radix,” by Brett King may be the book for you. Continue reading The Radix, by Brett King @ Joe Bob Briggs
Tag: catholic
Translation Tuesdays: Firefly, by Severo Sarduy
Karl Wolff reviews Firefly by Severo Sarduy (release date, March 2013), a writer praised by Roland Barthes, for his verbal richness and dreamlike evocation of pre-Castro Cuba. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Firefly, by Severo Sarduy
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
Monday with the Supremes: Part VI: The Abortion Debate (with Jokes)
A limited-run series where I review three books about the Supreme Court of the United States, exploring its historical and ideological conflicts, and the transformations it wrought upon law and society. This week … abortion! Continue reading Monday with the Supremes: Part VI: The Abortion Debate (with Jokes)
CCLaP Fridays: On Being Human: Hellboy, by Mike Mignola
In this week’s installment of Karl Wolff’s essay series, “On Being Human,” he explores the comic book series “Hellboy,” and a how a cigar-chomping hell demon, who also happens to be a practicing Catholic, works to save the world for Rasputin, Nazis, and all manner of Lovecraftian nightmarish entities. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: On Being Human: Hellboy, by Mike Mignola
MONDAYS WITH THE SUPREMES, PART III: KOREMATSU, BROWN, AND PADILLA
A limited-run series where I review three books about the Supreme Court of the United States, exploring its historical and ideological conflicts, and the transformations it wrought upon law and society. This week: Three Supreme Court cases that examine “binding precedent”, race, and national security. Continue reading MONDAYS WITH THE SUPREMES, PART III: KOREMATSU, BROWN, AND PADILLA
Translation Tuesdays: Wonder (1962), by Hugo Claus
Wonder is a strange book. By turns sarcastic, hallucinatory, satirical, and dreamlike, it relates the misadventures of one Victor-Denijs de Rijckel, a teacher who pursues a mysterious woman only to find himself posing as an expert of Crabbe, a messianic figure associated with Nazi collaboration. Continue reading Translation Tuesdays: Wonder (1962), by Hugo Claus
80sSFF: Apocalypse Now (1979) and Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)
The first part in a series dedicated to examining the science fiction and fantasy films from 1979 to 1989. The series will investigate whether these films possess certain ineffable qualities missing from today’s films of the same genres. Kurtz: I expected someone like you. What did you expect? Are you an assassin? Willard: I’m a soldier. Kurtz: You’re neither. You’re an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill. Why are we beginning a series devoted to the science fiction and fantasy films of the 1980s with Apocalypse Now? Francis Ford Coppola’s epic Vietnam War film holds the … Continue reading 80sSFF: Apocalypse Now (1979) and Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)
Aberration of Starlight (1980) by Gilbert Sorrentino
The slim novel Aberration of Starlight by Gilbert Sorrentino traces the events one summer in 1939 through the perspectives of four different characters. The title is taken from an astrological phenomenon involving the movement of both the observer and the subject under observation. Right from the start, Sorrentino will upend the reader’s expectations. The four characters lives become revealed through various narrative techniques. These include letters, question-and-answer, and stream of consciousness. The four main characters are Billy Recco, the son of Marie Recco. He idolizes Tom Thebus, a salesman wooing Marie, much to the chagrin of Marie’s father, John McGrath. … Continue reading Aberration of Starlight (1980) by Gilbert Sorrentino
The Ringer by Jenny Shank
On a mid-March afternoon in Denver, Ed O’Fallon and a DPD SWAT Team enter a run-down building on a no-knock warrant. He comes upon a sleepy Mexican man who doesn’t respond to his commands. A gun is drawn (or not?) and Ed fires. The man is killed. Ed later finds out that the no-knock warrant had the wrong address and the man had a name, Salvador Santillano. The Ringer by Jenny Shank chronicles the repercussions in Denver’s Latino and law enforcement communities. While the engine that propels the narrative forward revolves around Santillano’s death, Shank begins the novel with Ed … Continue reading The Ringer by Jenny Shank
The Driftless Area Review 