Category: Reviews & Criticism

“Abstract Grotesquism”: Daniel Miller Reviews Nathan Jurevicius’ Graphic Novel Birthmark

*Ed.’s Note: click images to view larger sizes. Both whimsical and grotesque, Nathan Jurevicius’ latest graphic novel Birthmark is a take on an age-old story—that of the hero’s quest. The book’s cover reflects this: our hero, a tooth-like creature with tied-up hair, rides a grub through fiery-orange leaves, his eyes intently forward. The grub’s cuteness,…
C.F. Lindsey Reviews Knives, Forks, Scissors, Flames, a new novel by Stefan Kiesbye

“Knives, Forks, Scissors, Flames have no place in children’s games.” This haunting nursery rhyme drips with dread and foreboding, and establishes the tone for Stefan Kiesbye’s novel. Set in a small German village, the book is a shining example of classic Gothic literature, but spun with a modern twist. Knives, Forks, Scissors, Flames is indeed…
Yi Lu’s New Poetry Collection Sea Summit, reviewed by Robert Young

It’s always important to read outside your boundaries, to encounter diversity of thought, and to broaden your literary horizons. Reading translated literature is a great way to do this. An often underrepresented part of literature, translated literature can, especially to other writers looking for technique to borrow, provide a whole new perspective and outlook on…
Robert Dean’s Novel The Red Seven Reviewed by C.F. Lindsey

Grit, outlaw-cowboy justice, and blood, lots of blood; these phrases come to mind when discussing Robert Dean’s novel The Red Seven, following the tale of a cowboy bounty hunter on a hunt for vengeance. After the brutal mutilation and murder of his family—the Masterson clan—the renegade known as “The Ghost” saddles his faithful mount and…
Fiction Review: Gwen Werner Reads Fat Girl, SKinny by Amye Archer

The first time a boy called me fat, I was at the public pool in fifth grade. I’d chosen a one-piece tie-dye number from JCPenney and Emily, my oldest friend, had a two-piece blue suit of which I was endlessly jealous. That summer we spent every summer day together, in and out of the pool,…
Fiction Review: Paul Albano Reads James Tadd Adcox’s Repetition

James Tadd Adcox’s novella Repetition is a hypnotic, deeply funny, yet strangely affecting journey through sadness, archaic conflict resolution, Kierkegaard, and hosting an academic conference. It’s an exploration of repetition and dreams and the ill-fated, inexplicable childlike ambitions forever-incubating inside us. It’s really good, is what I’m trying to say. The protagonist (also our unnamed…
Poetry Review: Justin Carter Reads Requiem for Used Ignition Cap by J. Scott Brownlee

In Requiem for Used Ignition Cap, poet J. Scott Brownlee’s debut collection from Orison Books, place and religious faith combine to create a vivid portrait of the Texas Hill Country and Brownlee’s hometown of Llano, a portrait that dips below the outer layer of small town life and into the violent and often problematic underbelly.…
“It ain’t the middle of life / but I’m still / caught in the woods”: Leonard Kress Reviews Anselm Hollo’s Poetry Collection The Tortoise of History

I first encountered Anselm Hollo at one of the legendary poetry readings held at Dr. Generosity’s Pub in Manhattan in the early 1970s. He had recently arrived from his native Finland (after a long stint working for the BBC in London.) Hollo cut an imposing figure—tall, bearded, wild-haired, his teeth chipped, his pleasingly accented voice…
Book Review: Vivian Wagner on Chloe Caldwell’s Essay Collection I’ll Tell You in Person

In her new book of essays, I’ll Tell You in Person, Chloe Caldwell has the voice of a best girlfriend confiding all of her deepest, darkest secrets—about acne and drugs, sex and binge eating. Caldwell makes it seem easy to speak with such a lively and intimate voice, but that’s only because she’s a masterful…