Fossilized ammonite mollusk. Photo by Adrien Vieriu Calvino fa la conchiglia [Calvino/Italo Calvinomakes/does/imitatesa/theseashell/shell/spirals] La costruzione di uno scrittore [The making/building/construction of a writer] Editor’s note: To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Italo Calvino on October 15, 2023, the journal California Italian Studies has published a special issue, edited by Anna Botta and Lucia . . .
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A Review of House Parties by Lynn Levin (Spuyten Duyvil, 2023) Lynn Levin’s debut collection of short fiction, House Parties, offers the wisdom and humor of a keen eye and a kind heart. An accomplished poet, Levin, author of five collections of her own poetry and one volume of translation, also writes beautiful prose so . . .
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A Review of The Sea Elephants by Shastri Akella (Flatiron Books, 2023) “Once upon a time,” reads sixteen-year-old protagonist Shagun in a book of Hindu myths at the outset of Shastri Akella’s earnest and aching debut novel, The Sea Elephants, “the gods took away the first ancestor of the sea elephants, coveting him for his . . .
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A Review of The Long Field: Wales and the Presence of Absence by Pam Petro (Little Toller [UK], 2023) In her memoir The Long Field, Pamela Petro reflects on her early adult years, which were spent in Wales redefining old notions of home and rediscovering herself, through a quiet exploration of her own sexuality and a distant, . . .
Read MoreBut I like itBecause it is bitter—Stephen Crane It’s audaciously hoppy for me!Bring on bitterest beer ecstasies!They’re not one big “hop bomb.”Brewers craft, with aplomb,The hop spectrum. Such badassery! Some fear hops and endeavor to slayEvery tongue-biting flavor awayWith juicification—An abomination!Give me robustly bold IPAs! If your tongue is too weak, step aside!I advise . . .
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The incredible lightness of beering,So refreshing with summertime nearing!O they’ll flow flavorfullyWith their low ABVsWhen the afternoon heatwaves start searing. #1Take an Air Bath when temperatures rise.Finely bubbled, its bite will surpriseYou with tongue-tingling zipTo enliven each sipOf this Session so brightly devised. #2A drinkable language that’s clear-ly straw-colored, delightful Kölsch beerIs so crushable, fruity,and lightly . . .
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A Review of perennial fashion presence falling by Fred Moten (Wave Books, 2023) A Review of perennial fashion presence falling by Fred Moten (Wave Books, 2023) I’m going to be straight with you: in important ways, this book might not be for you. You might be, as I suspect I sometimes am, inadvertently but consequentially, . . .
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A Review of Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, Translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim (Archipelago Books, 2023) “Stories,” writes Cheon Myeong-kwan near the end of his lush and sprawling Whale, “are an exploration into a life filled with injustice.” Translated from the original Korean by Chi-Young Kim and shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize, Myeong-kwan’s . . .
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The Road Towards Home, a new novel by Corinne Demas, is just in time for beach reads and languid summer days. This novel, largely set on Cape Cod, is a breezy read with a literary bent, ideal for throwing in a beach bag. Demas is a prolific writer and while she has written . . .
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A Review of Standing in the Forest of Being Alive by Katie Farris. (Alice James Books, 2023) Why write love poetry in a burning world?To train myself in the midst of a burning worldto offer poems of love to a burning world. —Katie Farris, “Why Write Love Poetry in a Burning World” In the . . .
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