We Are Forever Haunted: ‘The Penguin Book of the Undead’
These glimmers into the underworld betray a primeval and persistent human urge to peer beyond the grave.
John L. Murphy
Medievalist turned humanities professor; overconfident accumulator of books & music; overcurious seeker of trivia, quadrivia, esoterica. Despite an incessant teaching load, I manage to devote free time to reading, listening, pondering big ideas while nagged by small ones. I'm at:"Blogtrotter".
Tim Presley: The WiNK
On The WiNK, we hear the intimacy of fumbling, playful, and willfully wispy songs, conceived and born into disconcerting half-lives in the bedroom.
The Warlocks: Songs from the Pale Eclipse
Songs from the Pale Eclipse will surprise few fans of neo-psychedelia, but it can stand in until the next bold psych release.
‘Global Punk’: The Longevity of Punk Encourages
No previous survey of punk has likely examined a Celtic band from Indonesia, or swept across the Basque Country, Poland, and Edinburgh as well as Long Island, Chicago, or Austin.
‘Éamon de Valera’: From Irish Rebel to Politician
This compact study of a man many worshiped and as many despised will serve readers wanting more facts, if less wit.
Wrestling With the Replacements’ Legacy in ‘Trouble Boys’
Based on Mehr’s plethora of interviews in Trouble Boys, most of what seemed grist for the rumor mill about the Replacements was, if anything, understated.
Loss and Selfishness, Isolation and Pleasure and Other Themes in Italian Literature
Tim Parks' A Literary Tour of Italy is no tour guide of the haunts of famous writers; it's an informative choice for readers seeking the best that Italian writers can offer.
‘Drawing Blood’ and Doing Violence to Clichés
When Molly Crabapple stares down danger and corruption, and when she investigates the long reach of terror and greed, she succeeds.
Vegan Cooks of the World, Unite!
The Anarchist Cookbook, unlike William Powell's 1971 effort, espouses non-violence. It expands anarchism to its titular concerns, which is rarely found in such primers.
David Mitchell’s ‘Slade House’ Is a Sequel, of Sorts, to ‘The Bone Clocks’
Akin to a bearers of a rare blood type, those selected enter a "Theatre of the Mind" where their "birth-bodies" encounter in Slade House their dreams come true.
Destruction Unit: Negative Feedback Resistor
As metal and punk, hardcore and thrash, this space invasion storms over you.
‘The Dying Grass’ Refuses to be Coralled
Like the unfenced West, William T. Vollmann's novel roams freely, evading control of the mechanical hand and conforming style.