Poetry is not popular, perhaps because unlike fiction it demands a reader capable of giving all of his or her attention to the text. Dana Gioia’s own book (Can Poetry Matter?) is the best examination of the problems that poets…
A review of Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan
“In an age where everything can mean anything, perhaps it is only possible to exist as a cipher, as a thin, fragile outline of a hope etched across an infinity of madness.” (309) Flanagan provides his answer – in the…
A review of The Timeless Art of Italian Cuisine by Anna Maria Volpi
This is no ordinary cookbook, although it has as many recipes and will certainly accompany you into the kitchen while you cook. Volpi’s book is also a history, sociology, and geography book, which covers the major regions of Italy, the…
A review of Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a writer of such greatness that his autobiography has an intrinsic interest on the score both of his greatness and the skill with which he tells his own story. Living to Tell the Tale is the…
A review of Ignorance by Milan Kundera
When Ignorance is good, the novel flows like an insightful and moving non-fiction essay along the lines of Garner’s work. The reader perceives Kundera’s insight and shares in the attempts at returning home. There are also moments of sad beauty…
A review of Nosferatu by by Dana Gioia
The poetic needs of a libretto can be reduced to very few. The words assist the music and are absorbed into it. Music must bolster up the more pedestrian passages but needs effective words to support dramatic action and vivid…
A review of Love by Toni Morrison
The truth of these characters is something both suppressed and created by the man who has damaged them. Cosey’s influence, his power, is one which sits at the opposing pole to the power demonstrated, especially in the end, by Christine…
A review of The Lost German Slave Girl by John Bailey
Although the story of Sally Miller is fascinating enough to be read purely for the forward thrust of the plot, what makes this book worth a serious look is the way Bailey teases out all of the implications, and allows…
A review of Asterix and the Class Act by Rene Goscinny
Originally created in 1959 and published in the French comics magazine Pilote, Asterix ultimately became a cult hero and French household name. The series is set in the year 50 B.C in the area which is today’s France, primarily Brittony.…
A review of The Body’s Question: Poems by Tracy K. Smith
Her poems are unpretentious, intelligent and consistently arresting by their beauty and their honesty. This is another triumph for Graywolf Press which seems unable to publish any but distinguished books. Reviewed by Bob Williams The Body’s Question by Tracy K.…