Book Reviews

Flash Review: The Strings of Walnetto Arrangements by Ben Estes

11.05.2011 Poetry Reviews
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The Strings of Walnetto Arrangements by Ben Estes My rating: 4 of 5 stars Punky is right I say it is right so it must be Right Night at the poetry house–crickets chipping in a not-quite-stein voice for all the rabbits and cymbals popping out the dampness. I low the low in the voice of [...]

Tagged as: Ben Estes, Flowers & Cream, Poetry Reviews

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Flash Review: Barn Burned, Then by Michelle Taransky

10.26.2011 Poetry Reviews

Barn Burned, Then by Michelle Taransky My rating: 5 of 5 stars I continue in awe of the way Taransky can break a line. The poems are as worked as work can be, but broken thank goodness, broken like champs. Can’t imagine the lines any differently. But I don’t really think the crux of this [...]

Tagged as: Michelle Taransky, Omnidawn, Poetry Reviews

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Flash Review: Born Two by Allison Cobb

10.16.2011 Poetry Reviews

Born Two by Allison Cobb My rating: 5 of 5 stars A romp(er) in the sense that everything is worn, frayed, last legs etc. That the language is newish and known, a sound fulcrum, & um (sic) becoming. No being the master in these poems, no meaning no to those who wish to ‘ah’ at [...]

Tagged as: Allison Cobb, Chax Press, Poetry Reviews

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Flash Review of NO, I WILL BE IN THE WOODS by Michelle Taransky

10.09.2011 Poetry Reviews

NO, I WILL BE IN THE WOODS by Michelle Taransky My rating: 5 of 5 stars It was raining raining raining when I got the mail and opened it and read this book (thank goodness) instead of doing nothing. And what a beautiful book of poems printed on opaque vellum and what a treat to [...]

Tagged as: Brave Men Press, Michelle Taransky, Poetry Reviews

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Flash review: The Fruit of the Tree by Edith Wharton

03.22.2011 Fiction Reviews

The Fruit of the Tree by Edith Wharton My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was my first real Wharton (besides Ethan Frome and Bunner Sisters, two relatively short works). Gotta say I was impressed. It’s so nice to follow early Woolf (Night & Day) with a minor Wharton. They work in different, almost oppositional, ways. [...]

Tagged as: Edith Wharton, Fiction Reviews

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Flash Review: Night And Day by Virginia Woolf

03.10.2011 Fiction Reviews

Night And Day by Virginia Woolf My rating: 3 of 5 stars Sort of a snoozer as Woolf goes. I can’t say if anyone but Mrs. Hilbery got my attention. The book was just so labored and overthought and… I don’t know… Sort of useless in it’s accumulation of activities and thoughts. Just never seemed [...]

Tagged as: Fiction Reviews, Virginia Woolf

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Flash Review: Pause Button by Kevin Davies

02.25.2011 Poetry Reviews

Pause Button by Kevin Davies My rating: 5 of 5 stars The first thing that hit me about this book was how masterful Davies is at adding/subtracting text. While there’s plenty of books out there with “erasures” (which usually inject air into a heavier text), this book has “deletions.” Like the text was shot thru. [...]

Tagged as: Kevin Davies, Poetry Reviews, Ubu Editions

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Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

02.22.2011 Fiction Reviews

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen My rating: 5 of 5 stars Swooped in for the reread and longed and thinned (sighed) as to howandwhy the arrangement of figurines so pleases me. In order to form a more perfect union and secure the blessings of liberty. Times four I have read pride and prejudice and [...]

Tagged as: English Literature, Fiction Reviews, Jane Austen

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Review: The Trial by Franz Kafka

02.17.2011 Fiction Reviews

The Trial by Franz Kafka My rating: 5 of 5 stars I picked up this book a few years ago and put it down because I got too Kafka-ed by the mazery. I just couldn’t put it together, couldn’t understand why sentences were written the way that that were. Thank goodness I gave it a [...]

Tagged as: Fiction Reviews, Franz Kafka

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Review: living must bury by Josie Sigler

02.09.2011 Poetry Reviews

living must bury by Josie Sigler My rating: 4 of 5 stars Gotta say that I loved the “Contents” in this book. What is usually a list of titles and page numbers, Sigler weaves into a whopper of a poem. I’m a sucker for prayerish poems and “Contents” was one of the best I’ve read [...]

Tagged as: Fence Books, Josie Sigler, Poetry Reviews

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