As the world shuts down and ultimately starts to reopen, Iowa City circles its figurative wagons, our institutions working to keep local artists and retailers engaged. Little Village reaches out for book reviews. Prairie Lights delivers books for reviewers right to their doors. I have the privilege of reading Nest, a series of heartfelt essays […]
Book Reviews
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Book Review: ‘An Ice Cream Truck Stalled at the Bottom of the World’ by Jon Cone and Rauan Klassnik
Most plays tell a story, taking audiences for a ride of plot twists and turns, perhaps inspiring laughter or tears or heartbreak along the way. Other plays take a different road, focusing more on tone and mood — a journey evoking difficult-to-process feelings and challenging audiences in ways that stick long after the play is […]
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Book Review: ‘Traitor’ by Dennis Green
An intriguing idea, sympathetic characters and a fast-moving plot make Traitor by Iowan Dennis Green a great read for lovers of exciting sci-fi. Traitor is the final book in a trilogy that began with Traveler and Prisoner, and though I have not read the first two, I thoroughly enjoyed the third. However, I would recommend […]
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Book Review: ‘Real Life’ by Brandon Taylor
In his debut novel, Real Life, released Feb. 18, Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Brandon Taylor follows the story of Wallace, a science graduate student in the Midwest who is in search of what he really wants. The book is set over the course of just three days, and it’s filled with betrayals, new romance and […]
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Book Review: ‘The Heap’ by Sean Adams
The Heap By Sean Adams — William Morrow (A HarperCollins imprint) Reading: Sean Adams Prairie Lights — Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. In his first novel, Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Sean Adams masterfully satirizes bureaucracy, capitalism and hustle culture in a way that is humorous and disturbing, while constructing an intriguing narrative that deals […]
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Book Review: ‘Paper Planes: A Collection of Poems not Crumpled on the Floor’ by Lovar Davis Kidd
Cedar Rapids-based dancer, educator and poet Lovar Davis Kidd started the new year by self-publishing a volume of poetry entitled Paper Planes: A Collection of Poems not Crumpled on the Floor. This collection calls to mind the author’s spoken word performances, and most of these pieces beg to be read aloud. The short book is divided into
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Book Review: ‘They Said This Day Would Never Come’ by Chris Liddell-Westefeld
Every president of the United States dominates public discourse so thoroughly that they almost erase their predecessor from the collective consciousness. No one has done that as thoroughly as Donald J. Trump. One has to think hard to remember the Obama presidency, given the relentless onslaught of dishonesty and brutish absurdity
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Book Review: ‘Cleanness’ by Garth Greenwell
Cleanness, the second book by Garth Greenwell (released Jan. 14, 2020), is exemplary. It provides rare rewards to its readers beyond the scope dared by many authors of contemporary literature. It demands much of the reader — not due to its difficulty, but in the unrelenting rigor of the narrator who patiently preserves the paradoxes of everyday
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Book Review: Kiley Reid — ‘Such a Fun Age’
Reading: Kiley Reid Prairie Lights — Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. Such a Fun Age By Kiley Reid — G.P. Putnam’s Sons Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Kiley Reid has written a timely and compelling debut novel. The action begins when Emira Tucker, a part-time babysitter, who is black, is called in for emergency sitting […]
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Book Review: Michael Zapata — ‘The Lost Book of Adana Moreau’
A Model Earth, the tale within a tale central to The Lost Book of Adana Moreau, is a science fiction story that involves travel between multiple dimensions. It is the manuscript that Saul Drower finds in his grandfather Benjamin’s possessions after his death, and sets out to deliver to Maxwell Moreau, son of its author, Adana. The debut novel
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Book Review: ‘Writers of the Depths Anthology’
Writers of the Depths Anthology Erin Casey & Alex Penland, ed. — The Writers’ Rooms Like a river flowing into the sea, Writers of the Depths, the anthology from the Iowa City–Cedar Rapids workshop collective the Writers’ Rooms, injects a fresh perspective into ocean tales. One traditional story and six fantasy tales are studded with […]
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Book Review: ‘Heart Notes’ by Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey
Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey’s second volume of poetry was self-published in October, just five months after his first volume (Look, Black Boy) was released. Heart Notes departs from race as its central topic and focuses on aspects of love, which Rainey explores through widely varying structures and types of poems. In fact, if you’ve ever wondered whether
