Tag: Noreen Hernandez

Ire Land (a Faery Tale), a mixed-genre fantasy by Elisabeth Sheffield, reviewed by Noreen Hernandez

Elisabeth Sheffield uses exquisite language and control over a palimpsest of mixed genres in Ire Land (a Faery Tale). She vacuum-seals a layered plot into a fantasy world of comfortable relationships within a morality-play type story that hints at, then rejects any expected outcome for the main character, Sandra Dorn. Sheffield builds a world where…
A Thousand Curves, a Red Mountain Editor’s Choice Award-winning poetry collection by Paul Nemser, reviewed by Noreen Hernandez

Paul Nemser’s childhood connection to poetry began in Portland, Oregon, where he passed the time reading poems in the storage room of his family’s tool store. From there, he went on to receive a BA from Harvard College, an MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts, and a JD from Boston University School of…
Roundabout, an improvisational fiction novel by Phong Nguyen, reviewed by Noreen Hernandez

The plot of Roundabout, the novel by Phong Nguyen, begins by asking “is this all there is?” I settled in for a lazy river ride of a read, but I immediately wished I’d brought a safety jacket. Because after a few pages the story turned into a white water rafting adventure. Roundabout is a novel…
Noreen Hernandez Reviews Carol Ann Davis’ essays on art, violence, and childhood: The Nail in the Tree from Tupelo Press

About twenty years ago, I felt buried under the usual family problems that most people face. I complained to my sister that while I didn’t expect anything miraculous, I would appreciate it if life would just get a little easier. Her short response was, “But life isn’t easy. And it’s not hard. It just is.”…
Noreen Hernandez Reviews Michael Chin’s Story Collection Circus Folk from Hoot n Waddle

The circus exists in a foggy space between reality and fantasy. It’s a place I’ve visited in person, at the movies, or on television. My first memories of the circus include laughing with Bozo on my lunch hour from school or staring wide-eyed during a Ringling Brothers spectacle. Eventually, the luster of the performances faded.…
Noreen Hernandez on Tina May Hall’s debut novel The Snow Collectors from Dzanc Books

Tina May Hall has created a work of storytelling art in The Snow Collectors by weaving the genres of gothic mystery/ romance, the atmosphere of a lyrical poem, and a warning of apocalyptic environmental collapse. The first chapter is divided into chunks that describe Henna’s, the main character’s, background. These sections move abruptly between her…
Driving in Cars with Homeless Men, Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner Kate Wisel’s debut story collection, reviewed by Noreen Hernandez

Driving in Cars with Homeless Men is, on one level, author Kate Wisel’s homage to the friendship of women. It also looks at our preconceived ideas of youth, women, poverty, and choice. Serena, Frankie, Natalya, and Raffa live in working-class Boston. They navigate through the pain in their lives by smoking, drinking, and driving around…
Noreen Hernandez Reviews The Wagners, a booklength poem by John Colasacco

The Wagners, a poem, tells the stories of different generations of Wagners. Or, that’s what we are told on the back cover. I tried, but couldn’t keep track of the Wagners because the bits do not form a historical family narrative. But it doesn’t matter, because the poem is a journal of the sensations that…
Cathy Ulrich’s Ghosts of You, a fiction collection from Okay Donkey, reviewed by Noreen Hernandez

In the short story collection Ghosts of You, Cathy Ulrich rips apart familiar mystery tropes of noir fiction. Like a seasoned gumshoe, Ulrich dirties her hands, digs through sensationalism, and ignores the obvious to search for clues. She opens up the spaces between what the readers think they understand and the truth. These aren’t whodunits.…