Review

Book Review: “My Mother’s Tears” — Mystery Matriarch

November 1, 2019
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Michel Layaz’s narrator is juggling much more than nostalgia — his traumas are overwhelmingly odd and disturbing, almost to the point of absurdity.

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Book Review: “The Topeka School” — Urban Neuroticism

November 1, 2019
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All told, The Topeka School is engaging — it’s a talented and kaleidoscopic story touching down just about everywhere in modern life.

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Theater Review: “Linda Vista” on Broadway Upends the Male Midlife Crisis

October 31, 2019
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Dramatist Tracy Letts’s new play is raw, funny, and intensely personal.

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Rock Concert Review: The National in Boston — Highly Engaged

October 31, 2019
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No one would classify the National as “arena rock,” but Matt Berninger and the group proved at Agganis that they’re quite capable of filling an arena and then putting on a show worthy of the space.

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Theater Review: Praxis Stage’s “Coriolanus” — Riled-Up Warriors

October 30, 2019
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The audience members were as diverse as the cast, the show is not being staged in a traditional space in Boston, and the play is incredibly relevant.

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Theater Review: “Cambodian Rock Band” — The Rhythms of Betrayal

October 30, 2019
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At its best, Lauren Yee’s vibrant play with music offers a compelling exploration of survivor guilt, the urge for revenge, the deforming power of the past, and the impossibility of finding justice for crimes against humanity.

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Concert Review: Skylark’s Rachmaninoff’s Vespers a.k.a. All-Night Vigil — A Beautiful Benediction

October 29, 2019
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Skylark continues to impress me with its distinctly beautiful sound, its dazzling control over dynamics and intonation, and its unusually compelling programming.

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Book Review: “Experiments with Empire” — Ways to Re-envision the World

October 28, 2019
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Experiments With Empire makes some perceptive points about how the connections between ethnology and fiction can help us re-imagine the world.

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Jazz Album Reviews: The Music of Lerner and Loewe — Back in the Jazz Limelight?

October 28, 2019
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The two new Arbors discs are intended to bring Lerner and Loewe back into the jazz mainstream. We will see what happens. But what wonderful music these two groups have produced!

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Rock Concert Review: Steely Dan — Old-School Sounds Redux

October 28, 2019
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These are songs that have forged a life of their own across eras.

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