I have to fess up to being a neophyte when it comes to politics and political history. I’d be pretty hard pressed to tell you much about the goings on in Washington any farther back than ten years, given that I was barely out of school then and had little interest or predilection for the … More Exploring the Most Important Job in Washington: The Gatekeepers by Chris Whipple
Class after class, year after year, she introduced reluctant high school juniors to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterwork, The Scarlet Letter. Yet the novel never got old to her- something new always managing to kindle an imaginative spark within her. She had voiced her desire to write this book for as long as I can remember. … More A Worthy Prequel to The Scarlet Letter: Cherie Aldridge’s Hester
Have you ever read something so poignant that it almost makes you angry? Angry that you can’t set words dancing melodically to a beautiful and evolving narrative the way this writer so effortlessly can? Surely, I’m not alone on this one . . . ? From the first paragraph of the first page of Shani Mootoo’s … More A Beautiful Study in Narrative Voice: Shani Mootoo’s Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab
What changes will the year 2022 bring? A mere five years in the future, but still, one can look forward to at least a modicum of progress, right? An inching toward that ever-present goal of harmony and justice? Unfortunately not so in the fictional world David Samuel Levinson presents us with in his new, acerbic … More Dark Satire: Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson
“Death is a conjunction followed by a destination,” according to Tony Evans, chaplain of the Dallas Mavericks and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. In his short work, Eternity: Understanding Life After Death, Evans discusses the failings of the human concept of time, scriptural evidence of what eternity will look like, as well as what … More A Glimpse: Eternity by Tony Evans
As I have likely mentioned before, I’m a sucker for a short story collection–something about unraveling the thread that links the seemingly disparate characters and tales– so I all but jumped at the chance to review Josh Barkan’s Mexico: Stories. In it, Barkan, a celebrated writer and Creative Writing professor who lives part-time in Mexico … More An Outsider’s Perspective: Mexico by Josh Barkan
One day in the not-too-distant past, I sat down and made myself start writing a novel. There was an internal storm that had been gathering within for some time that I was too lazy and defeatist to do anything about–ideas, diatribes, inspirations, musings left to swirl around in under-utilized recesses. But for no specific reason, … More A Novel Approach: Writing Literary Fiction in Reverse
Family secrets, a decadent and possibly haunted mansion, and an abundance of literary references?! Be still my heart! The Barrowfields, the brilliant debut novel by Phillip Lewis, is a beautifully done southern gothic with all the intrigue, romance, and twists one could hope for. Phillip’s highly-detailed narrative and soothing prose draw readers deep into the … More A Delightful Southern Gothic: The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis
If you’ve never heard of Margaret Atwood , welcome to the planet Earth. Please allow me to show you around. I jest, but the woman has nothing short of 40 major works under her belt, ranging from dystopian fiction, to children’s books, to literary criticism and other non-fiction books on writing … More A Tempestuous Read:Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
I find it of prime importance (especially for those of us who’ve been out of college for more than a few years and have no professors to assign us texts to read) to delve into thought-provoking non-fiction. For every two novels I read, I like to explore an interesting argument-based work, not to say that … More Inside the Mind of a Genius: The Inkblots by Damion Searls
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