Anahid Nersessian claims that her book is a kind of love story between her and Keats’ odes. But it turns out we have to take her word for that. Too often this study comes off like an acrimonious couple’s counseling session.
Books
Book Review: “Buy Me Boston, Volume 2” — Celebration of Advertisements Past
Flipping through this volume will help readers understand just how much the internet and consumer technology has changed the world of arts and culture.
Poetry Review: “Field Music” — Lyrical Visions of Hardscrabble Vermont
The voice in Field Music is disciplined, its cagey earthiness unfailingly engaging our attention.
Poetry Review: Paul Celan — The Anguish of Writing in a “Damaged” Tongue
Poet Paul Celan has come to embody in person and in print the agonies of a half century of European culture.
Book Review: The Books of András Koerner — Acts of Wondrous Remembrance
Writer András Koerner has dedicated himself, lovingly and brilliantly, to assiduously reconstruct the lives of ordinary Jews in Hungary before the Shoah.
Book Review: “From Left to Right” — The Story of Holocaust Historian Lucy S. Dawidowicz
This biography of Lucy S. Dawidowicz performs the invaluable function of gathering relevant documents and drafting a narrative that rescues a fascinating historian from oblivion. But it does not add much to the history of the New York intellectuals.
Children’s Book Review: Expanding Your Child’s Universe
A delightful translation of AntonTon (Antuntun in the original Croatian), a story about a “unique guy who does everything his own way“; whether you’re a classical music aficionado or novice, Carnival of the Animals would make a good introduction to the genre to share with children and grandchildren.
Book Review: Ken Bruen’s “A Galway Epiphany” — A Vision of Exhaustion
Jack Taylor’s awareness of his own depleted condition is part of A Galway Epiphany’s Beckett-infused drama.
Book Review: Nicole Krauss’ “To Be a Man” — A Virtuoso Performance
Nicole Krauss’ new book of short stories generates a curious, understated, but genuinely transporting spirit, pretty much throughout.
Book Review: “Big Girl, Small Town” – Vinegary Vignettes
This novel’s greatest strength is its frank character sketch of Majella. The protagonist is sharply rendered through her observational, sensory navigation of the people and doings in the fictional Northern Ireland town, of Aghybogey.