(This post originally appeared on Persephone Magazine.) Cristina Henríquez’s newly published The Book of Unknown Americans, is not about immigrants’ relationship to white people. Ideally, this would not be unusual in a novel, but in a literary landscape that is still struggling with diversity, it’s refreshing to read her insightful take on the American Dream. And what is the “American Dream,” anyway? Different economic classes might answer in specific ways, but at the root of every response is the wish, “Can life be a little […]
Loving this memoir means loving the most difficult parts of one’s self
(This post originally appeared on Persephone Magazine.) When one reads a book published by Future Tense, one should expect to feel willingly uncomfortable with the author’s honesty. No matter the specific subject matter, there will be at least one moment, a feeling, a crash into clarity that makes one realize: I’ve been here too. Reading Wendy C. Ortiz’s excellent memoir, Excavation, is an experience no different. Starting with her eighth grade English class, Ortiz recounts the five-year-long relationship she had with her teacher, a man […]
Cat puns? I’M IN.
Let’s see… Cats and puns illustrated by a musician? It’s like the Book Gods sensed a need in my life and amply provided. Perhaps best known as a member of noise rock bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard, David Yow is also an accomplished visual artist. While Copycat may be seen as less “serious” than some of his other work, there’s still a subtle complexity to these animals. “I love cats. Always have,” he says about the book. “I also love wordplay. I’m […]
Does the author know how he feels about his subject matter?
(This post originally appeared on Persephone Magazine.) Though anything overly cliquish, with rules of operation and preconceived notions, makes me squirm, I realized that I had made assumptions of my own about the word “Twee,” and any movement that might be associated with it. So with mixed feelings did I pick up one mouthful of a title: Twee: The Gentle Revolution in Music, Books, Television, Fashion, and Film by Marc Spitz. Spitz begins by acknowledging that, for some, Twee is a pejorative term meant to […]
Such outstanding first issues that I am already itching for the collected volume
(This post originally appeared on Glorified Love Letters.) Lately I’ve been dipping into the world of Doctor Who comics with both the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, but today I’ve read the brand new releases from Titan Comics:Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #1 and Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #1, which are such outstanding first issues that I am already itching for the collected volume. The Tenth Doctor’s first issue takes place some time after he has left Donna, but before Waters of Mars. Interestingly, he […]
There’s an excellent book floating around in here somewhere, but…
(This post originally appeared in Persephone Magazine.) Set during World War I and promising an aristocratic feminist awakening, I wanted to like Somewhere in France a lot more than I did. Jennifer Robson’s story of Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford and Doctor Robert Fraser goes on too long for what is at stake, but it still has its redeeming qualities. Lady Elizabeth — Lilly, to most everyone who knows her — has left her comfortable lifestyle in order to join the war effort. Her parents more or less […]