“The Sahara,” articulates Maysa Abou-Youssef Hayward in her study of the desert in Arabic verse, “represents a location marked by fear, loss, exile, and emptiness, the result of destruction.” In Desert Imaginations: A History of Saharanism and Its Radical Consequences (University of California Press, 2025) Brahim El Guabli argues that this idea . . .
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A review of Uncanny Valley Girls: Essays on Horror, Survival, and Love (Harper Perennial 2025) by Zefyr Lisowski and Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) (Atria 2025) by Eleanor Johnson. I used to think I didn’t like horror films, but then, thirteen years ago, I met . . .
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Where there’s ice, it’s cool for two. For two: so I let you come. A breath as of fire was around you— —Paul Celan When it’s cold, find some warmth by the fire.Pour . . .
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A review of Truth and Consequence: Reflections on Catastrophe, Civil Resistance, and Hope (Bloomsbury 2026) by Daniel Ellsberg From the time Daniel Ellsberg was barely more than a toddler, his mother—a domineering woman whose love was conditional on obedience to her wishes—was determined that Ellsberg would become a world-class concert pianist. Thus, instead . . .
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Review of Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed’s Media, Culture, and Decolonization: Re-righting the Subaltern Histories of Ghana (Rutgers University Press, 2025) Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed’s Media, Culture, and Decolonization: Re-righting the Subaltern Histories of Ghana is an exploration of the media landscape of Northern Ghana, specifically among the Dagbamba people. Mohammed presents to us a . . .
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Reviewing Joshua Colangelo-Bryan’s Through the Gates of Hell. American Injustice at Guantanamo Bay (Humanitas Media, 2025), 224 pp. I. Buddies When you pick up a book written by a lawyer for Guantanamo detainees, knowing that it will contain an account of his work representing those clients, the last thing you expect to . . .
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As the holidays are drawing nigh,And our dinners are richer: piled highWith the vegetables, meats,Cheese, and savory treats,And our bellies are full—then we spy Someone bringing a tray of desserts(One more bite and some tummies might hurt).Well, you know without questionBeer helps with digestion.So try some of these to insert 1.In your . . .
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A Review of J. Malcolm Garcia’s Alabama Village: Faith, Hope, and Survival in a Southern Town (Seven Stories, 2025) From the get-go, let it be clear: this will be a partisan review. Early on, during the four-year-plus project that became Alabama Village, Malcolm mentioned to me in an email what he was . . .
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Katharina Volckmer’s second novel, Calls May Be Recorded (Two Dollar Radio, 9/16/25) is a fierce workplace satire that is bold in its exacting focus on those pushed to the margins of this century’s rapidly shifting labor market. It follows the protagonist Jimmie on a tragicomic gambol through a single day at a . . .
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A Review of Reasons and Feelings by Sarah Mesle (University of Chicago Press) Sarah Mesle’s Reasons and Feelings: Writing for the Humanities Now is a new contribution to the University of Chicago Press’s Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing series, which contains some tremendous books on the subject. Though too numerous to . . .
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