Translated from the Polish by Michael Kandel (Brooklyn, NY: Restless Books, 2014) When Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity in 1905, perhaps the most jarring conclusion drawn from his new vision of the universe was that time itself … Continued
(Seattle and New York: Wave Books, 2013.) I can’t put O’Brien’s newest poetry collection down. By this I do not mean that I am propelled through People on Sunday until the end, but rather, that I am compelled to read … Continued
Discussed: Hollywood & God, The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, 2009 As Director of the Writing Program at The New School* in Manhattan, Robert Polito frequently conducts public discussions with various invited writers and scholars. I’ve attended a number of … Continued
Translated from Portuguese by Zoë Perry and Stefan Tobler (High Wycomb, UK: And Other Stories, 2013) Reading Rodrigo de Souza Leão’s All Dogs Are Blue is like taking an acid-fueled journey into a mystified reality. The novel is about everything … Continued
WORKS DISCUSSED: The Art of the Poetic Line by James Longenbach, St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 2008 and The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry: Contemporary Poets in Discussion and Practice, edited by Gary L. McDowell and F. Daniel … Continued
(New York, NY: Black Ocean, 2013) As a well-bred, attention-deficient, “multitasking” reader, I always have at least two books open, bookmarked, and in progress at any given moment. It’s not simply about having variety, or feeding different parts of the … Continued
First, it’s hard. Take the opening line from the opening poem of Bronk’s 1993 collection, The Mild Day. “It’s like going to Africa to live.” What? What’s like that? You can scan the rest of the short poem and never … Continued
(Los Angeles, CA: Semiotext(e), 2013) What are The Sad Passions? Something about the cover struck me as kindred at first sight. A Francesca Woodman photograph of a woman hanging by her fingers in a doorway, face covered in hair. The scene is incipient, set … Continued
Translated from Spanish by Nick Caistor (New York City, NY: New Vessel Press, 2013) The Missing Year, the first novel by Argentinian writer Pedro Mairal to be translated (excellently, by Nick Caistor) into English, is a slim 118 pages, beautifully … Continued
(New York, NY: A Strange Object, 2013) Continuing in the tradition of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya’s dark fairytales, the jaded yet occasionally hopeful romanticism of Miranda July, and the magical realism of Karen Russell and Ramona Ausubel, newcomer Kelly Luce crafts narratives … Continued
(Portland, OR: Octopus Books, 2013) From Catullus to Carson, poets have grappled with how to properly address the dead, seeking a vocabulary that can perform the burial ritual, communicate sorrow, can celebrate and perhaps even immortalize. Are words ever enough, … Continued
(New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014) If you had to sum up what he did to me, I’d say it was this. He made me sing along to all the bad songs on the radio. Both when he loved … Continued
JENNY OFFILL & CERIDWEN MORRIS Discussions about motherhood are cluttered with logistics, dark nuances, and commiseration. They are frequently conducted under the punch-drunk fog of sleeplessness, grammar-addling distraction, and amazement. Discussions about creativity and motherhood are even more fraught—almost … Continued
Translated from the Hungarian by Paul Olchvary (New York, NY: New Directions, 2013) Every summer, my family and I embark on a week-long vacation to rural New Hampshire. There is a small “old world” style resort there, replete with century … Continued
The Singapore Grip is the final installment of J.G. Farrell’s “Empire Trilogy,” which chronicles the spectacle of British colonialism over the course of two centuries, from Ireland to India to Southeast Asia. It is also one of the only Anglo-American … Continued
Translated from Spanish by Janet Hendrickson (Rochester, NY: Open Letter, 2012) Recently I found myself in a first-class seat on a flight to Philadelphia. Normally when I travel, I am seated somewhere deep in the bowels of the plane, so … Continued
(Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2012) As a writer, I create yearlong, but because of my position as an instructor of English composition, summer remains my season of “play,” three months when I treat writing like a full-time job. The … Continued