Books

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Book Review: “Curtains?” — Grim But Valuable Truths about the Future of the Arts in America.

February 24, 2015
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Curtains? is not entirely satisfying, but I’ll give Michael M. Kaiser points for honesty, clarity, and for not dodging uncomfortable truths.

Arts Interview: America’s Arts Economy — Future Tragically Imperfect

February 23, 2015
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Over the next two decades, slow-creeping climate change is coming to the arts in America — the arctic ice on which the creative class stands is melting.

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