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 […]
Local book reviews
Posted inBook Reviews
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 […]
Posted inBook Reviews
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 […]
Posted inBook Reviews
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 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
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! […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Anthony Worden & the Illiterati — ‘How Could We Lose When We’re So Sincere?’
How Could We Lose When We're So Sincere? by Anthony Worden and the Illiterati In 1968, the Turtles released the album The Turtles Present the Battle Of The Bands, a cartoonish concept album that yielded the hit “Caroline.” Every song on the album was by a different invented group, each with its own style. Anthony […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
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: ‘Meatpacking America’ by Kristy Nabhan-Warren
In the popular imagination, the small-town Midwest exists in a state of fixed, unchanging idyll, in which people who have always lived there and always will pass on to their children the rural values and traditions they themselves inherited. For some, often on the political right, these values are hard work, temperance of spirit and […]
Posted inBook Reviews
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 […]
Posted inBook Reviews
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 […]
Posted inBook Reviews
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 […]
