Books
Valerie Duff’s polished style is thoughtful and observant, her fluent voice compressed and controlled. She constructs meticulous lines with (to borrow one of her phrases from these pages) a “stonecutter’s precision.”
These picture books explore music history and an avant-garde composer who challenged convention.
“The book in many ways is a defense of liberalism. It’s a defense of the idea that that’s really what the government should do in a democracy. The liberal consensus is what happens when you actually let people vote.”
I’m happy to add the brujas of “A Tall Dark Magic” to my own personal spell book featuring the names of the witches I love.
Two Chilean artists look at the death of democracy and the aftermath of the 1973 coup.
Too often, “Lioness” reads like a digest of Boston tourist guides and historical surveys, at times even seeming to quote them directly.
If you want to see how Earth’s oceans are coping with global warming, what better way than to sail around the world for 15 years — and have a little fun doing it?
Poet Ann Lauterbach’s eleventh book contains a challenging invitation: poems that offer fresh perceptions of life’s beautiful enigmas.
Biographer John Szwed proves masterly at decoding even Harry Smith’s zaniest works and he’s excellent at offering us the narrative of Smith’s raggedy and colorful life. “The Life and Times” is a very good read.
Book Review: “American Purgatory” — Prison as a Form of Social Control
“American Purgatory” is the sort of book reactionary politicians and organizations are trying to ban. It’s full of evidence that many of the attitudes and conditions prevalent in this country from its founding were racist, bigoted, even genocidal.
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