Many of the short stories in Two Nurses, Smoking are genuinely accomplished, and worth investigating.
Books
Book Review: “Dinners With Ruth” — Always Nice But Rarely Incisive
Like a Hallmark movie, Dinners with Ruth is an engaging and entertaining story, with episodes of great pathos. It is an upbeat, easy-to-read gift book, which is undoubtedly what its publisher intended.
Book Review: “Shmutz: A Novel” — Hasidim in Heat
A young Hasidic woman addicted to Internet porn? Oy vey, who knew?
Book Review: “The Color of Time: Women in History, 1850-1950” — The Past, Colorized
This coffee table book scan of women’s history is visually striking and consistently informative.
Book Review: Colette’s “Chéri” and “The End of Chéri” — Tales of Love and Morality
A superb new translation in one volume of the two Chéri novellas, regarded as Colette’s masterwork.
Poetry Review: Helena Minton’s “Paris Paint Box” — Filled with Delight and Wisdom
Poet Helena Minton deserves our attention; her verse is grounded in a close observation of nature and a love of language.
Book Review: “Yoga” – A Valiant But Flawed Exercise in Overthinking
Emmanuel Carrère’s novel powerfully satirizes intellectual pretension but at the expense of engaging storytelling.
Book Review: Steve Reich’s “Conversations” — Something Special
At its best, Steve Reich’s Conversations is illuminating and engaging, an honest discussion of the creative process by one of the major composers of our times.
Book Review: “Let’s Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History” — An Enlightening Learning Experience
A lot of history is jammed into this book, but the author manages to ruminate in an informative and engrossing way on 50-plus years of pop music.
Book Review: “The Fires of Lust” — Copulation in the Middle Ages
Historian Katherine Harvey’s well-researched and lively book shows that in the Middle Ages lust had its way. Big time.