Review
The Adjustment Bureau is a surprisingly good, romantic movie considering that angels are determining the fate of star-crossed lovers and the plot is driven by such lines as “if you stay together, you will not only ruin your dreams, you will also ruin hers.” The Adjustment Bureau. Directed by George Nolfi. The cast includes Matt…
Read MoreNo new edition of Bishop’s poetry, which she created with such loving-care and sent to publishers with such restraint, not to say stinginess, could advance her current reputation. She is America’s flagship, 20th-century poet, leaving the straight men (Eliot, Frost, Stevens, and Lowell) in her wake. (Expect a Bishop backlash by 2020.) Yet many poetry…
Read MoreTwo recent productions of Shakespeare, one a heralded London staging at the Donmar Warehous heading to New York in April, the other an Actors’ Shakespeare Project presentation in Davis Square, provide examples of the strengths and weaknesses of tackling the Bard without frills.
Read MoreThese novels by the young, Indian writers Natacha Appanah, who identifies herself as French-Mauritian, and Rana Dasgupta take the form of memoirs of old men who look back on their lives, searching for the truth and the peace that comes with an understanding of the past. The Last Brother by Natacha Appanah. Translated from the…
Read MoreD.W. Jacobs’s presentation of the life and ideas of American visionary R. Buckminster Fuller invites you to make your own intellectual structure out of what you have seen—connect Fuller’s dots and you have an image that expands your mental horizons or at the very least ups your powers of analysis and recall. R. Buckminster Fuller:…
Read MoreA novel of echoes, reflections (sometimes inverted), and criss-crossing lines, Lance Olsen’s Calendar of Regrets locates nodes of intersection, spotlights the forgotten, and magnifies the unnoticed. Calendar of Regrets by Lance Olsen. Fiction Collective, 456 pages, $22. By Vincent Czyz Lance Olsen’s Calendar of Regrets had me from the opening scene: a vividly imagined and…
Read MoreAs a holiday concert experience, however, the show, ably performed by the SpeakEasy cast, amuses and induces toe-tapping. For those grumpy about sentimental Xmas entertainment, “Striking 12” delivers cheer, uplift, and plenty of musical talent while remaining blissfully devoid of the usual saccharine, holiday-show sentimentality. Striking 12. Book and Lyrics by Brendan Milburn, Rachel Sheinkin,…
Read MoreBut make no mistake about these two novels; they are not just delicious, hilarious capers. They glow in the mind because they are informed by Elizabeth Jolley’s understanding of our common loneliness and her sympathy with the myriad, ingenious connections we make to try to alleviate it. The Sugar Mother by Elizabeth Jolley. Persea Books,…
Read More“Life, you see, is a lonely business . . . When there is a storm, it’s best to turn into the teeth of it. Don’t fly away, allowing an evil wind to come upon you from the stern. That’s our weakest part. We’re rib cage and metal up front. The bow is always best. Head…
Read MoreCall it anarchistic boorishness, an artist chomping on the hand that feeds him. But at least Thomas Bernhard is honest about why he welcomes awards — he wants the money, especially because the amounts, given European largess to its culture-makers, are considerable. My Prizes: An Accounting by Thomas Bernhard. Translated from the German by Carol…
Read More
Recent Comments