Eric Puchner’s ‘Dream State’ Mirrors Life’s Haze
In Eric Puchner’s Dream State dramatic plot points bob upon a flat-line surface rather than rising, reflecting the rhythm inherent in actual human life.
Books
Features, reviews, interviews, and lists about books including cultural commentary and history, non-fiction, literature, and more.
Alan Moore and the Great American (Graphic) Novel
The Illuminist: Philosophical Explorations in the Work of Alan Moore investigates the convictions and contradictions of the Great American (Graphic) Novel writer who is neither American nor a novelist.
Yoko Ono Bio Captures the Primal Scream
The Yoko Ono biography by David Sheff captures the artist’s primal scream but understands that she is a rare specimen who cannot be pinned down or easily classified.
Sayaka Murata’s Spectacularly Strange ‘Vanishing World’
In Sayaka Murata’s eagerly awaited novel Vanishing World, our conventional understanding of love and sex has all but disappeared.
The Zombies’ Inhuman Staying Power
The Zombies only had a couple of hit songs, yet Robin Platts’ Times and Seasons shows their almost inhuman staying power to this day.
Sameer Pandya’s ‘Our Beautiful Boys’ Is Vulnerable and Powerful
Sameer Pandya mines the pain of immigrant parents wrestling with America’s existential crises in Our Beautiful Boys .
Lollapalooza Is an Artifact That Will Never Be Replicated
Lollapalooza dragged alternative culture into the sunlight, created a safe space with Mötley Crüe-level hedonism, and became an artifact that will never be replicated.
Tom Robbins’ Crazy Wisdom
An undercurrent of seriousness prevails in Tom Robbins’ comedic expressions, occasionally bubbling to the surface to convey profundities on the nature of the universe, the human condition, et al.
Ayşegül Savaş’ Weirdo Artists and Anxious Women
For Turkish author Ayşegül Savaş, a midway point between “normalness” and artistry seems both bridgeable and impossible.
Joni Mitchell Inspires and Unsettles a Memoirist’s Life
Reverence for Joni Mitchell is clear in Paul Lisicky’s memoir. So, too, is an artistic courage that both inspires and unsettles him.
The Slavic Fairytale’s Baba Yaga Upends Japanese Yakuza Culture
In Akira Otani’s thriller The Night of Baba Yaga, the Slavic Fairytale’s Baba Yaga refuses to conform to women’s roles in patriarchial Japanese yakuza culture.