Category: Literature

Brilliant Stories from a Brilliant Mind: The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street by Jacob M. Appel

May 31, 2017

  Man, oh man- this gentleman is brilliant! I might have guessed an “American author, bioethicist, physician, lawyer and social critic” according to Wikipedia, would produce some stellar writing, but still wasn’t prepared for how fully invested I’d be in each story in Jacob M. Appel’s The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street! The characters are … More Brilliant Stories from a Brilliant Mind: The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street by Jacob M. Appel

Violet

May 30, 2017

-Violet- There were various elements at play. The weather. Her work schedule. How she will feel about herself at that particular moment in time. She cannot simply commit to going. If she can say maybe, she’ll say that, but any more commitment needed and her response will be a resounding no, out of sheer necessity. … More Violet

Exploring the Most Important Job in Washington: The Gatekeepers by Chris Whipple

May 17, 2017

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

A Worthy Prequel to The Scarlet Letter: Cherie Aldridge’s Hester

May 4, 2017

  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

A Beautiful Study in Narrative Voice: Shani Mootoo’s Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab

May 3, 2017

  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

Dark Satire: Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson

April 20, 2017

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

An Outsider’s Perspective: Mexico by Josh Barkan

March 28, 2017

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

A Novel Approach: Writing Literary Fiction in Reverse

March 18, 2017

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

A Delightful Southern Gothic: The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis

March 15, 2017

  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