Books

Children’s Book Reviews: Revisiting Fables and Fairy Tales

December 2, 2023
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A new interpretation of an old fable and a newly reissued fairy tale provide delightful reading for kids — and perhaps good holiday gifts as well.

Book Review: Ella Fitzgerald — A Sublime American Songstress

December 1, 2023
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Biographer Judith Tick is reverent about the singer without falling into hagiography: with honest scrutiny, she asserts the enduring value of Ella Fitzgerald’s achievement for generations to come.

Book Review: You May Get Lost in “Death Valley”

November 28, 2023
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Melissa Broder’s new novel is as amusing as it is bewildering.

Book Review: “Pop Goes to the Movies” — All in the Needle Drop

November 28, 2023
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This volume is a study of what can happen when two art forms engage in a mutually beneficial conversation.

Book Review: “All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows” — Grab a Bong

November 25, 2023
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“All The Years Combined” is best approached as yet another voice in the ever burgeoning conversation about the evolution of the Grateful Dead.

Book Review: “The Body of the Soul” — Life is a Game Worth Playing

November 24, 2023
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Ludmila Ulitskaya’s stories are fatalistic in spirit, but not morose.

Book Review: “Democracy Awakening” — The Rise of Authoritarian Vistas

November 24, 2023
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This is a brilliant book that explains, with engaging clarity, why our politics have reached their current frightening nadir.

Poetry Review: Ishion Hutchinson’s “School of Instructions” — Lured Through History

November 23, 2023
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Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson’s New-World, nonwhite perspective claims its own stake in a history that we have come too much to associate with its imperialist heavyweights.

Book Review: “The Last Fall” is Up for the Count

November 23, 2023
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Sheldon Goldberg’s engaging first novel spotlights the world of pro wrestling.

Arts Commentary: Perceptions of Putin –“The Wizard” and What Lies Behind the Curtain

November 20, 2023
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How well “The Wizard of the Kremlin” will be received here is an interesting question, especially when the novel is evaluated in the light of Mstyslav Chernov’s visceral documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.”

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