REVIEWS
Review: AN EXTRAORDINARY THEORY OF OBJECTS by Stephanie LaCava
An Extraordinary Theory of Objects Stephanie LaCava 2012 Harper Collins 224 pages Review by ETHEL ROHAN What is most exceptional about Stephanie LaCava’s memoir The Extraordinary Theory of Objects is that it contains little of Stephanie LaCava. Through story,...
Review: SKIN HORSE by Olivia Cronk
Skin Horse Olivia Cronk 2012 Action Books 72 pages Review by MATTHEW MAHANEY As others have pointed out, Skin Horse is not your standard book of poems, first or otherwise. This is not surprising if you’ve read Olivia Cronk’s poems in various journals over the past few...
Review: A HISTORY OF WAVES by Haines Eason
A History of Waves Haines Eason 2010 Poetry Society of America 25 pages Review by J. KIRK MAYNARD Haines Eason’s first chapbook A History of Waves (selected by Mark Doty for the 2010 New American Poets chapbook series) begins with a displacement: Who touched who with...
Review: FIND THE GIRL by Lightsey Darst
Find the Girl Lightsey Darst 2010 Coffeehouse Press 88 pages Review by FARREN STANLEY The sexualization of women—and a girl’s desire to achieve power by becoming an object of sexual interest—is one prevalent sign of a seriously ailing culture. In drawing the reader’s...
Review: SARAH/SARA by Jacob Paul
Sarah/Sara Jacob Paul 2010 Ig Publishing 200 pages Review by RACHEL ADAMS At a cozy brewpub in Salt Lake City, Utah, I share a pitcher of beer with author Jacob Paul. He has just handed me an advance copy of his new book, Sarah/Sara, and the discussion turns to a...
Review: STAR IN THE EYE by James Shea
Star in the Eye James Shea 2008 Fence Books 80 pages Review by JESSICA FORDHAM KIDD The straightforward idiom in James Shea’s Star in the Eye can be deceptive at first. Taken piece by piece, the images of each poem seem so right and precise that I almost forget to...
Review: FOSSIL FUEL by JoAnne McFarland
Fossil Fuel JoAnne McFarland 2007 Gold Leaf Books 66 pages Review by HEATHER DUERRE HUMANN Fossil Fuel, JoAnne McFarland’s sixth poetry collection, begins with her borrowing a saying attributed to the 13th century Persian poet and philosopher Rumi: “if there is hunger...
Review: DEAR SOUND OF FOOTSTEP by Ashley Butler
Dear Sound of Footstep Ashley Butler 2009 Sarabande Books 128 pages Review by LAURENCE ROSS Writing about cancer is a difficult task, given its ubiquitous—and therefore well-known and well-documented—horror. But in Dear Sound of Footstep, a sequence of essays...
Review: TOKYO BAY TRAFFIC by Cecile Rossant
Tokyo Bay Traffic Cecile Rossant 2007 Red Hen Press 164 pages Review by MIKE WALONEN Cecile Rossant’s Tokyo Bay Traffic (Red Hen Press, 2008) shifts kaleidoscopically in narrative focus, providing a panoramic view of a surreal, hyperreal Tokyo defined by sex,...
Review: The Night I Freed John Brown by John Michael Cummings
The Night I Freed John BrownJohn Michael Cummings2008Philomel Books251 pages. 19.95, cloth. Review by BJ Hollars While aimed at a young adult audience, John Michael Cummings’ The Night I Freed John Brown manages to transcend the genre by focusing on historical events...