by Maggie Libby Davis “In the end, though, every word we write is autobiographical, perhaps most especially when we attempt to avoid the autobiographical.” –Colum McCann Colum McCann suggests that his newest short story collection Thirteen Ways of Looking, published in November 2015, has autobiographical components. This leads me to suspect that the voices in […]
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by Tyler Beckett George Saunders’ Tenth of December is as close to a sure pick as you can get. There isn’t even really a question here; no one is going to pick up the book, read the glowing reviews and the flattering comparisons to Mark Twain, and ask their friend, “What do you think, has
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by Amanda Huynh In her debut poetry collection, Parneshia Jones leads her readers through a young black girl’s coming-of-age journey, and describes the transformation of her ties between family members, lovers, and society. Jones organizes the book into a five-sectioned quintet, where each section sings a distinct melody, but one that harmonizes as a collective
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by Emily Howell Longlisted for the National Book Award in Nonfiction, Michael White’s memoir Travels in Vermeer documents White’s journey to reconnect with the inner self through the paintings of Johannes Vermeer. In the middle of a divorce and custody battle that’s restricting his ability to see his daughter, Sophie, White takes a vacation to
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by Maggie Libby Davis For the last two years since my father passed, I’ve been looking for a sweet laid-back book for my mother as she simply doesn’t have the stomach for much drama, particularly of the heart-breaking variety. I came across Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, his last novel published posthumously earlier
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by Tyler Beckett Neil Gaiman lets his novels take meandering paths, like the long road trips in American Gods, even as the stories move towards conflict and highly personal drama. The author’s wandering style lets him introduce many characters and topics, a generous approach that has contributed to my understanding the man primarily as a
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by Emily Howell American poet, essayist and best-selling memoirist, Mary Karr, released a new book this September, The Art of Memoir. In it, she combines her expertise as both a professor and a writer and provides the reader with a look into the art of writing memoir. Each chapter begins with anecdotes from fellow writers’
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by Amanda Huynh In his fourth poetry collection, Major Jackson’s poems stretch from intimate urban settings to child soldiers at war in Kenya. His poems capture the essence of humanity, the minuscule to the grand, in vivid details. Jackson takes his reader across borders and shows us how distance does not mean difference, and how
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by Kevin Norris Cory Taylor is frustrated and angry. One can see this by looking at the cover of his novel You’re Making Me Hate You. His teeth are grinding. His eyes are bulging. There’s a quote on the cover “A cantankerous look at the common misconception that humans have any common sense left.” His
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By Kevin Norris As I perused through the jackets of the new releases at my local Barnes and Nobel’s bookstore, I glanced over at a yellow covered hardback book. Its red, orange and green writing caught my eye. I looked down and read the title: Post Traumatic Church Syndrome. “What the heck is that?” I
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