There's really nothing I can add about this little book that hasn't already been said. I've only read one other Saunders work, the brilliant _Lincoln There's really nothing I can add about this little book that hasn't already been said. I've only read one other Saunders work, the brilliant _Lincoln in the Bardo_, and I ordered this as a gift for someone but decided to read it last night before bed. For what it's worth, I think he's created an instant classic....more
I wish I could rate this a 4.5--I've read it twice through, lingering on my favorite poems ("Body, Tender Thief," "Miss Havisham's Fire," "Louis BelfaI wish I could rate this a 4.5--I've read it twice through, lingering on my favorite poems ("Body, Tender Thief," "Miss Havisham's Fire," "Louis Belfast," "The Drone," "Mulberry Street") and the book seems to really come into its power and range in the second half. Let me be clear: I really like this collection and am very much looking forward to more from this poet. It's a great debut....more
I started this book after reading T.H. White's *The Goshawk because I'd read they were sort of companion volumes. They are, in a way: Macdonald's thouI started this book after reading T.H. White's *The Goshawk because I'd read they were sort of companion volumes. They are, in a way: Macdonald's thoughts on White really helped me to understand my own mixed feelings about his book. But Macdonald's braided narrative does so much more than cast a light on White and his memoir: the way she tracks her grief at her father's death, the at-times-breathtaking prose, precise and evocative description of the training and companionship of her own hawk, Mabel--it all folds into a remarkable and very readable book that I can't recommend highly enough. ...more
Having admired Liz's poems for the better part of a decade, I was thrilled to hear that she'd finally published a full-length collection. I started reHaving admired Liz's poems for the better part of a decade, I was thrilled to hear that she'd finally published a full-length collection. I started reading this book a few months ago and set it aside, solely because I wanted it to last. What a pleasure to start again from the beginning and wade through the deep grass of these poems: the whole book is a deft and probing meditation on boundaries, those we create and those that are imposed upon us. The self among neighbors, among strangers, among friends and colleagues and loved ones. Among weather and animals.
Liz has a keen attention to language: her way of honing in with exactitude sometimes slippery and hard-to-define moments reminds me of the poems of both Elizabeth Bishop and Robin Becker. I hear echoes of both masters in this wholly engaging collection.
"because each night something comes/ to take them away to the next place." (The Tenth Night)
"Water waits, finds a new way, bides/ its time like a well-aimed curse, even as it blesses us." (Water Cycle)
"One cleaving reveals the Sanskrit tunneling/ of the pine grub" (Splitting Firewood)
"The breathing of the ancient furnace stops/ mid-heave." (Outage)
"... the ants of my forgetfulness/ that chew through much of what I try to remember" (The House We Didn't Buy)
*He's stepping on my ghosts*, I kept thinking as I read through these essays. I didn't want this book to end. It's sad and campy and smart and brave a*He's stepping on my ghosts*, I kept thinking as I read through these essays. I didn't want this book to end. It's sad and campy and smart and brave and so, so unflinching. I want more from James Allen Hall....more
[Full disclosure: I am the publisher of this chapbook.]
A thoroughly riveting read. A cadenced and irresistible meditation into the mind and actions of[Full disclosure: I am the publisher of this chapbook.]
A thoroughly riveting read. A cadenced and irresistible meditation into the mind and actions of serial killer Andrew Cunanan. For years, I'd been waiting for someone to write this book; when it came to Seven Kitchens in manuscript, it landed as a top finalist in the Rane Arroyo Series. It's taken me longer than anticipated to bring it into print, but I'm thrilled that it's finally available....more
"And maybe, in this moment, Sabrina thinks If only stories of forgiveness wrote themselves as urgently as stories of anger. What would that mean for u"And maybe, in this moment, Sabrina thinks If only stories of forgiveness wrote themselves as urgently as stories of anger. What would that mean for us all?"
Darker and deeper than Me Talk Pretty..., which is I think the last book I've read by David Sedaris. The cuts are deeper--"I've hated you since 2002!"Darker and deeper than Me Talk Pretty..., which is I think the last book I've read by David Sedaris. The cuts are deeper--"I've hated you since 2002!"--but so are the familial ties that try to hold us together. I really enjoyed this book....more
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