What’s Left (Finishing Line Press) builds its atmosphere immediately — the cover and epigraph synching an ambiance by opening with a formally stylized Nirvana quote followed by a transcription of […]
Book reviews
Album Review: Seth Avett — ‘Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown’
It will be a celebration when Greg Brown performs two retirement shows at the Englert this month. A lot of reverence will be there too, as a town gets the […]
Fully Booked: Romantic comedies that feel like a hearty meal
Can’t decide what to read next? Librarians at the Iowa City Public Library have some ideas. This month, Melody Dworak highlights great romance. Browse print books and audiobooks available for […]
Book Review: ‘Tending Iowa’s Land: Pathways to a Sustainable Future’ ed. by Cornelia F. Mutel
While contemplating Tending Iowa’s Land, a poignant story returned to mind. A good friend of mine and his wife, several years ago, lived very near the Iowa River. During a […]
Book Review: ‘What Napoleon Could Not Do’ by DK Nnuro
Early in DK Nnuro’s debut novel, a Ghanaian father presiding over his son’s divorce ritual is introduced by his well-read brother to the concept of schadenfreude. “Delighting in [someone else’s] […]
Book Review: ‘The Wounded Age’ and ‘Eastern Tales’ by Ferit Edgü, translated by Aron Aji
Born in 1936 in Istanbul (and approaching his 87th birthday on Feb. 24), Ferit Edgü has been writing beloved and award-winning work in his native Turkish since 1959. He’s published […]
Book Review: ‘Slippery Steps: Rolling and Tumbling Toward Sobriety’ by Don McLeese
You may have read one of Don McLeese’s previous three books, or perhaps you’ve stumbled upon one of the many pieces he’s contributed to publications like Rolling Stone, Chicago Sun-Times […]
Book Review: ‘Music-Making in U.S. Prisons’ by Mary L. Cohen and Stuart P. Duncan
In the 1864 novella Notes From the Underground, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky proposes the proto-existentialist notion of “perverse freedom.” There are never no choices in life, because one can always, […]
Book Review: ‘Sound Fury’ by Mark Levine
Things not to do: read Mark Levine’s Sound Fury while battling a nasty rhinovirus. Here’s why: Levine (deftly) uses so many literary devices simultaneously that one really needs the full […]
Book Review: ‘Oblivion’ by Robin Hemley
What to say about Robin Hemley’s Oblivion? The University of Iowa Writers Workshop alum’s 16th book was released this year on Gold Wake Press. And although it’s short in pages, […]
Book Review: ‘Love and Potato Salad’ by Jason Thomas Smith
I won’t lie to you. I wasn’t going to read Love and Potato Salad until I read the press quotes on the back of the book. Riddled with jokes but […]
Book Review: ‘Saved By Schindler: The Life of Celina Karp Biniaz’ by William B. Friedricks
“I am a Holocaust survivor, and every survival story is unique. What makes mine unique is that I was fortunate enough to be on ‘Schindler’s List.’” These are the words […]