“Mat Johnson reinterprets Poe’s questionably constructed work in Pym, a novel that manages to be all at once a slapstick adventure, a literary mystery and a satirical approach to race, racism and academia.”
Although it is somehow not dominating the news cycle, there is a battle of epic proportions raging! The contested treasures are the manuscripts of Franz Kafka–yes, the very ones that he asked his buddy Max Brod to burn after his death. Dude clearly knew what was coming. These manuscripts are hot shit. Among the clambering […]
Happy International Women’s Day!
Three years ago, I was about one month into a four-month residence in Cuba. And on this one particular day, I had no idea why men on the street, deviating from the standard stream of whistles and marriage proposals, were offering congratulations. Do you know why? (Yes! you say, We read the subject line.) I’ll […]
Tonight No Poetry Will Serve – Adrienne Rich
“Adrienne Rich’s new collection is a slender volume of lyric notes, a vivid outline of the contemporary world. Her pieces are elliptical, often free-form, short. She is, of course, a master of the craft.”
It sure is an interesting time to be publishing books and giving them away for free. Out in idyllic Concord, Massachusetts (how right you are, gentle reader, in fact it is the breeding grounds of Transcendentalism, American democracy and the worst grape ever), the Concord Free Press is taking the publishing crisis by the scruff […]
Have you ever wondered whether you’d fit into the upper class of late-19th Century England–and wanted to be chastized with a Victorian moralistic severity if you don’t? If this is your greatest desire, well, get in line behind the Canadians! The McCord Museum in Montreal has made dreams come true for those of us who’ve […]
“The character of Black Pat is delightfully written. He goes about his job—of depressing people—by lying on them, or chewing rocks loudly, or tearing apart their household items like any unruly dog does.”