As a woman in her mid-20s who has dedicated her life to the arts, owning any sort of house feels like a fantasy, much less one with as much historical significance as the Meier House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Monona, Iowa. But even for a person who doesn’t know much about architecture or […]
Book Reviews
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘The Family Chao’ by Lan Samantha Chang
Family can be a tricky balancing act. Lan Samantha Chang, in her newest novel, gives the central family the surname Chao, making them collectively, of course, the Chaos. There are a couple of sections early in the book where she really locks the reader into what seems like an obvious analogy: “‘We Chaos, who are […]
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Book Review: ‘Memento Vivere’ by Laura Johnson
In Memento Vivere (Cabin Bear Books), a tiny volume of rebellion against death, Cedar Rapids poet Laura Johnson creates a still life of delights and damages reminding both herself and the reader: Remember you must live. (For those missing the reference, “memento mori” is a commonly used phrase meaning “remember you must die.”) In the […]
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Book Review: ‘Midwinter Constellation’ ed. Becca Klaver
Midwinter Constellation (Black Lawrence Press) is the collaborative effort of 32 poets paying homage to Midwinter Day, by Bernadette Mayer, on the 40th anniversary of its creation. It is the brainchild of editor Becca Klaver who states in the afterword that she created this virtual space to be transparent and collaborative, following the “six-part structure […]
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Book Review: ‘Devil House’ by John Darnielle
America loves a good murder. Maybe we’ve always been this way, but sometime in the past few years, true crime evolved from guilty pleasure to passionate obsession. People discuss “blood spatter” and “Munchausen by proxy” with the same amateur enthusiasm once used to dissect Tarantino dialogue or the Cubs’ dubious playoff hopes. Once the lurid […]
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Book Review: ‘It Can’t Be Easy to Hang a Giraffe in a Cheap Hotel Room …’ by Caldwell Murchfield, illustrated by Bruce Lanning
When I first received this slim volume in the mail, I panicked. How can one get a ~500-word review out of a book of less than 40 pages? I had assigned it to a freelancer, but held back, not wanting someone else to have to grapple with that dilemma. A 40-page poetry book? Sure, golden! […]
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Book Review: ‘We Heard it When We Were Young’ by Chuy Renteria
We Heard It When We Were Young (University of Iowa Press) is a love letter to all of us who, like author Chuy Renteria, don’t know whether or not they had a happy childhood or whether or not they are good people. It is a love letter to those of us who feel guilty whichever […]
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Book Review: ‘Beyond Sacrifice’ by Alicia Dill
Cedar Rapids author Alicia Dill will be reading from her forthcoming novel, Beyond Sacrifice (Circuit Breaker Books), this month for Prairie Lights. The virtual event will also include a conversation with Sara Maniscalco Robinson, founder of Veterans’ Perspective. Beyond Sacrifice, Dill’s second novel, tells the story of Concepcion Chapa, a woman of many identities. Chapa […]
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Book Review: ‘Moon of the Snow Blind’ by Gary Kelley
As a Midwest interloper, I’d never heard the apparently ubiquitous story of the Spirit Lake massacre before encountering this new graphic novel. Of course, we had our own legends of “terrifying savages” back in New Jersey (look up the Jenny Jump House sometime if you’re interested in such things), so I know the drill: No […]
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Book Review: ‘Fishtastic!’ by Tess Weaver, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt
You may think you know whimsy, but unless you’re already a fan of Jennifer Black Reinhardt’s illustrations, you haven’t seen the half of it. The Iowa City illustrator pulls out all the stops for the visuals accompanying Iowa City author Tess Weaver’s charming picture book tale of a theater school of fishes. Inspired by the […]
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Book Review: ‘Nightbitch’ by Rachel Yoder
I think I need to open with an admission of guilt: I am not a parent. I have been a nanny, a preschool teacher, I’ve worked in youth housing — this is to say, I have helped to raise children of all ages, but I am not a parent. So while reading Nightbitch (Doubleday) I […]
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Book Review: ‘Left Foreign Policy: An Organizer’s Guide’ by Matt L. Drabek
Matt L. Drabek doesn’t just provide tragic history lessons of American hegemony in his new book Left Foreign Policy: An Organizer’s Guide (Base and Superstructure Press). With references as diverse as Noam Chomsky and Star Trek: The Next Generation, he provides the context of ongoing developments that make this book timely. Of equal importance, he […]
