Books

Arts Feature: Recommended Books, 2020

December 20, 2020
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An eclectic round-up of the favorite books of the year from our critics.

Book Review: Anahid Nersessian’s “Keats’s Odes: A Lover’s Discourse” — More like a Quarrel

December 17, 2020
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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.

Book Review: “Buy Me Boston, Volume 2” — Celebration of Advertisements Past

December 16, 2020
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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

December 16, 2020
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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

December 9, 2020
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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

December 7, 2020
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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

December 7, 2020
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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

December 6, 2020
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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

December 2, 2020
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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

December 1, 2020
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Nicole Krauss’ new book of short stories generates a curious, understated, but genuinely transporting spirit, pretty much throughout.

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