Books

Book Review: “Franci’s War” — A Very Relevant Holocaust Memoir

March 31, 2020
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Here we have the story of a young Czech woman who could not only take a piece of fabric and shape it into a gorgeous dress, but could also take her experiences during WWII and shape them into a compelling memoir.

Literary Reconsideration: A.S.Byatt’s “Possession”

March 28, 2020
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Tour de force? Not quite. Joycean? Perhaps in the way contemporary individuals overlap with ancient, mythical counterparts.

Book Review: “Four Futures” — Surprisingly Relevant ‘Social Science Fiction’

March 25, 2020
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Peter Frase envisions how our current bedeviling social contradictions and economic abuses may play out in the future.

Book Review: Clive James and the Rewards of Writing Poetry

March 24, 2020
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English writer Ian Shircore’s book-length study gives Clive James’ poems the loving attention they deserve.

Book Commentary: “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” and the Literature of COVID-19

March 21, 2020
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“The body is a curious monster, no place to live in, how could anyone feel at home there? Is it possible I can ever accustom myself to this place?”

Book Review: “You Will Never Be Forgotten” — Curiouser and Curiouser

March 20, 2020
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Whatever might be dark about these stories may also be — since they’re reliably witty and frequently very funny — a welcome distraction and relief from current events.

Book Review: “Tightrope” — A Wake-up Call for America

March 11, 2020
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What makes this book so necessary is that these are writers willing to state realities that members of both parties prefer to keep under the rug.

Books Commentary: Chronicler of Boston Crime — The Case for George V. Higgins

March 5, 2020
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George V. Higgins created a style that was at first revelatory, then degenerated into a tic at the end of his career.

Book Review: Robert Hass’ “Summer Snow” — Always Awake on the Coast

March 5, 2020
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Wherever Robert Hass is, the poet drinks in (and reports to us) the details of place and human activity.

Book Review: “Leonard Bernstein and the Language of Jazz” — Prominent from the Start

February 25, 2020
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Perhaps the book’s most impressive accomplishment is to make a kind of systematic case for Leonard Bernstein’s larger compositional output.

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