Owls, Aliens, and Others
Essayist Brian Phillips is no staunch empiricist, nor does he want to shatter delusions or expose machinations. In Impossible Owls, he is content to remain in a wide-eyed and owl-ier place.
19 October
Books
'May We Forever Stand' Explains Why "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Is an Immortal Song
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been embedded in black America's DNA for more than 100 years. We've sung it every February ever since Black History Month was a thing, and every December since Kwanzaa was a thing.
18 October
Nick Drnaso's 'Sabrina' and Affronts to Truth
Drnaso's Sabrina explores how isolation, both psychic and social, fuels the evolution of tragedy into social paranoia and a dehumanized narrative of fraud.
17 October
Short Stories: American Writers of South Asian Origin
In the US in this year alone there have been new short story collections by at least five fine writers with origins in the Indian subcontinent: Vandana Singh; Akil Kumarasamy; Neel Patel; Chaya Bhuvaneswar; and Anita Felicelli.
17 October
'Doctor' and the Business End of Things
Andrew Bomback explores ways in which "the healing art" and the connection between doctor and patient is understood in contemporary western culture.
16 October
'Tales from La Vida' Opens Up the World of LatinX Comics
This anthology will remind you how much you are missing if you confine your interests to only the big-named comics creators.
16 October
'Lake Success': It's All About Your State of Mind
If you wade into Lake Success, or even just repose on its banks, are you primed for a life of achievement and glory, similar to the way taking a dip in the River Styx renders you invulnerable?
15 October
Revolution from Below: Tim Mohr's 'Burning Down the Haus'
There's almost a nostalgia in Mohr's book for simpler times, when tyranny was orderly and bureaucratic and when antagonists and their tools of oppression were clearly defined.
15 October
Making Troy Great Again: On Shakespeare's 'Troilus and Cressida' and Trump's Ugly Political Rhetoric
The Trump presidency is Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida made real – only it's stripped of the mythology and just lying bare and ugly for all to see.
15 October
One Can Really Relate to Emma's 'The Mental Load'
French cartoonist Emma raises issues of inequality within French society with humor and humanity, using short statements accompanied by disarmingly charming cartoons that point out the absurdities of some common social conventions and beliefs.
12 October
Mary Lee Kortes Preps New Book, 'Dreaming of Dylan: 115 Dreams About Bob Dylan', Releases New Song (premiere + interview)
Longtime Bob Dylan favorite Mary Lee Kortes presents a book of dreams about the man. Patti Smith, Jimbo Mathus, others contribute.
12 October
Jeffrey Eugenides' 'The Virgin Suicides' Is a Masterpiece of Mood, Atmosphere, and the Palpable Ghosts of Lingering Regret
Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides is a brutally beautiful masterpiece of decay, loss, longing, and regret that can still break your heart.
11 October
'Novel Sounds' and the Southern Institution’s Rock 'n' Roll Problem
In Novel Sounds, scholar Florence Dore is interested in how a mass cultural phenomenon like rock 'n' roll can help illuminate realities about institutionalized high culture.
10 October
On Mankind's Hubris and Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring'
When promises of draining proverbial swamps have only blurred the distinction between legislation and capitalism, it is now the responsibility of individuals to advocate for Rachel Carson's environmental vision.
10 October
The End of Endings: How 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' and Don DeLillo's 'Zero K' Explain the Current State of Storytelling
Somehow, without realizing it, for both DeLillo and Rowling, death, the end of the world, and endings themselves are best emblematized by a dysfunctional father/son relationship.
10 October
'Blanket' Virtually Covers It All
Kara Thompson's Blanket Provides an excellent, warm, and informed history in the Bloomsbury Academic Object Lessons series.
09 October
Harvey Fierstein's 'Torch Song Trilogy' Resonates Throughout the Decades
Torch Song Trilogy is a progressive and contemplative meditation on gay identity that was radical for the '70s and remains dire for the contemporary moment.
09 October
'The Anguish of Thought': A Logical Line of Analysis for a Study of Madness
Regarding Evelyne Grossman's The Anguish of Thought, Ph.D. candidates across America should just lay down their pencils now before they embarrass themselves.
08 October
Shadows and Light in the Female Form: On 'David Lynch Nudes'
As with David Lynch's films, so too in his photography, plots are illogical and non-linear as they take a back seat to mood, atmosphere, and objectification.
08 October
On Sound and Rhythm in Text: Angela Leighton's 'Hearing Things'
Imaginative listening while reading, as Leighton demonstrates so masterfully, is not only a form of cognition but also a physical experience as we read or write literary texts.
05 October
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