To read Andrew Ridker’s sparkling novel ‘The Altruists’ is to find oneself inside the claustrophobic confines of a dysfunctional family. The Alters are apparently normal St. Louis residents; parents Arthur and Francine are respectively a professor of engineering and a couples’ counselor, and the children, Ethan and Maggie, are being prepared for successful careers. Yet under their upper-middle-class veneer, there is a profound disconnection.
Book reviews
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘The Current’ by Tim Johnston
The Current Tim Johnston, Algonquin Books On the Road. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Road trip stories lend themselves well to coming-of-age adventures. Kerouac writes the Great American Novel, Pee-wee finds his bike, Harold gets his kiss. For 19-year-olds Audrey Sutter and Caroline Price, a road trip turns into tragedy […]
Posted inOpinion
Book Review: ‘Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim’ by Ed Fallon
Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim: A Memoir From The Great March for Climate Action Ed Fallon, Business Publications Corporation Inc. (Des Moines, IA) Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim is a memoir by Bold Iowa’s “Agitator in Chief” Ed Fallon, detailing the eight-month saga of his 3,100-mile journey from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. known as “The Great March for […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Five questions with: Novelist Salvatore Scibona
Salvatore Scibona’s 2008 debut novel, ‘The End,’ was nominated for the National Book Award. Scibona, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, now has a second novel on the shelves: ‘The Volunteer.’ Scibona will be reading from ‘The Volunteer’ at Prairie Lights on Monday, March 11.
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Five questions with: Author Mark Mayer
Mark Mayer, graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and inaugural Robert P. Dana Emerging Writer fellow at Cornell College, will read from his debut collection of short stories, ‘Aerialists,’ at Prairie Lights on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Five questions with: Author Elizabeth McKracken
Quirky and engaging, funny and serious at once, ‘Bowlaway’ is a book that makes you think. The story of a bowling alley and the family which owns it is part historical novel, part family saga and part pure whimsy.
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Five questions with: Author Tom Hunt
A disastrous accident embroils a family in terror in Iowa native Tom Hunt’s new thriller, ‘One Fatal Mistake.’ When 18-year-old Joshua hits a man with his car, he has no idea that his choices will be the catalyst for a chain of horrifying events. Hunt will read from his novel at Prairie Lights.
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Book review: From Iowa City to San Francisco, ‘The Ultimate Actualist Convention’ is a treasure-trove packed with literary gems
Subtitled “A Detailed View of Iowa City Actualism in the 1970s & 1980s and Its Migration to the San Francisco Bay Area,” this tome was edited by Morty Sklar, Cinda Kornblum and Dave Morice, who were part of this unique community of artists whose works deserve to be explored and cherished.
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‘Cornfield Chronicles’ opens a window on mid-20th century Iowa
To open up Cornfield Chronicles: Featuring Snowball: Pony from Hell by Myron Williams is to open a window onto the Iowa of half a century ago. This set of short stories and vignettes tells of the author’s experiences growing up as an Iowa farm boy in the mid-20th century.
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‘This Void Beckons’ ventures into new poetic places
To pick up This Void Beckons, by former University of Iowa student A.J.K. O’Donnell, is to take a journey through the question of human destiny. This is not a simple book of poetry, but a linguistic feast evoking an emotional and psychological response to the nuanced question, “How do we express our common humanity?”
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Review: Sandra Allen’s ‘A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise’
Mission Creek: Sandra Allen Reading MERF, Room 2136 (375 Newton Rd, Iowa City) — Friday, April 6 at 12 p.m., Free Mission Creek Lit Walk: Sandra Allen Saint Burch (127 Iowa Av, Iowa City) — Friday, April 6 at 6 p.m., Free Sandra Allen had a fondness for her Uncle Bob, but she wasn’t sure […]
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Review: Jennifer Colville’s ‘Elegies …’ evoke a vibrant sense of life
Although one should never judge books by covers alone, the one gracing Jenny Colville’s Elegies for Uncanny Girls conveys an apt sense of the book’s contents. This befits Colville’s work as the editor of PromptPress, which invites authors to create verbal reflections inspired by images.
