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Fairleigh Dickinson University

Books

A Review of Nest of Worlds by Marek S. Huberath

April 17, 2014

Cory Johnston

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

A Review of People on Sunday by Geoffrey G. O’Brien

April 11, 2014

Heather Lang

(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

Robert Polito Discusses His Poetry Collection, “Hollywood & God”

April 2, 2014

Alan Gilbert

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

A Review of All Dogs Are Blue by Rodrigo de Souza Leão

March 27, 2014

Daniella Bondar

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

Field Guide to Prose Poetry and The Art of the Poetic Line

March 21, 2014

Renée Ashley

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

A Review of The Next Monsters by Julie Doxsee

March 13, 2014

Alex Crowley

(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

Why Nobody Reads William Bronk

March 8, 2014

Daniel Wolff

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

A Review of The Sad Passions by Veronica Gonzales Peña

March 6, 2014

Gloria Beth Amodeo

(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

The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal

February 27, 2014

Jessie Vail Aufiery

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

A Review of Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows A Tail by Kelly Luce

February 20, 2014

Dianca London Potts

(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

A Review of My Dead by Amy Lawless

February 5, 2014

Mark Gurarie

(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

A Review of Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

February 2, 2014

Jody Handerson

(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

Literary Mothers: A Conversation & Book List

January 28, 2014

TLR: The Literary Review

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

A Review of The Sinistra Zone by Ádám Bodor

January 19, 2014

Cory Johnston

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 by J.G. Farrell

January 3, 2014

Drew Calvert

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

The Future Is Not Ours by Ed. Diego Trelles Paz

January 3, 2014

Marion Wyce

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

A Review of The Game of Boxes by Catherine Barnett

November 2, 2012

F. Daniel Rzicznek

(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

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