Books

Book Review: “Madison’s Music” — Listen to the Melody of the First Amendment?

March 12, 2015
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If James Madison was so verbose that his draft version of the First Amendment could be cut in half, then he can hardly be called an artist with words.

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Book Review: The Life of Lou Reed — Those With No Moral Compass Beware

March 12, 2015
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We learn, over and over, that the author of the song “Vicious” dispensed his legendary acts of cruelty with sadistic aplomb.

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Book Review: Using Words as Weapons — Alain Mabanckou’s Tribute to James Baldwin

March 11, 2015
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Like James Baldwin, Alain Mabanckou is striving to see beyond comforting or righteous notions and grasp a world full of movement, migration, diversity, and unexpected mixtures.

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Book Review: “Blood Brothers” — Down-and-Out in Germany’s Zero Hour

March 10, 2015
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Anyone interested in understanding Europe in the 20th century, or in the fascinating metropolis that is Berlin, or in a riveting depiction of down-and-out youth who refuse to surrender to the system–will want to pick up Blood Brothers.

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Poetry Review: “It’s Like That If You’re Alive” — The Poetry of Tone Škrjanec

March 6, 2015
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Looking deeply into things and, by no means least of all, into other human beings implies meditating on brevity, on ephemerality—and this is what Tone Škrjanec does in this book.

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Book Review: Ned Beauman’s Unconventional “Glow”

March 6, 2015
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Glow is a witty, accessible, but at times overly ambitious journey through the world of exotic drugs, the chemistry of romance, and the insidious effects of globalization.

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Book Review: Colm Tóibin On Elizabeth Bishop

March 5, 2015
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In some essential and large way, novelist Colm Tóibin gets Elizabeth Bishop right.

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Book Review: “Medieval Christianity” — All Too Human

February 28, 2015
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Harvard Divinity School professor Kevin Madigan’s scholarly but always compelling exposition of the evolution of the church will spark introspection among practicing Christians.

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Book Review: At the Opaque Heart of Life — The Short Stories of Sait Faik

February 27, 2015
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Sometimes called the “Turkish Balzac” and, more often, the “Turkish Chekhov,” Sait Faik actually had a literary vision all his own.

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Poetry Review: “Breathturn into Timestead” — A Magnificent Guide to the Enigmatic Poetry of Paul Celan

February 25, 2015
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Once you have wrestled with Paul Celan’s poetry, you may find yourself with a changed and sharpened sensibility to image and language.

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