Intimacy, Power and Connection in “Kink,” edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell – Chicago Review of Books

Intimacy, Power and Connection in “Kink,” edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Kink, edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, is a titillating collection of stories about sex, fetish, love, and loneliness from a diverse group of literary authors. Although the collection includes detailed descriptions of sex acts, Kink is primarily an exploration of intimacy, power, and our human need to share an emotional bond.  Communication is a … Read more

Taxonomies of Survival in “Reconstruction” – Chicago Review of Books

Taxonomies of Survival in “Reconstruction” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In the final story of Alaya Dawn Johnson’s new collection, a soldier in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment expounds a “taxonomy of anger” that grapples with the layers and species of anger living in his fellow Black soldiers, newly and incompletely freed. It’s one of many thorny recurring problems in Reconstruction, a stylistically diverse collection … Read more

Grand, Transcendent Love in “Ridgerunner” – Chicago Review of Books

Grand, Transcendent Love in “Ridgerunner” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] A loner on the run is a Western literary genre trope, but Toronto poet and novelist Gil Adamson transforms it wholly in Ridgerunner, the follow-up to her debut novel, The Outlander. While the first book is a character study of nineteen-year-old Mary Boulton, a woman on the run from her brothers-in-law after she murders … Read more

6 Boy Mom Books I Love

6 Boy Mom Books I Love

[ad_1] The thing about boy mom books that I love the most is when they thread the needle between the mother’s wonderment at the very idea of raising a member of the boy species, and then an intense commitment to trying to speak “boy.” The books that I’ve chosen here are really about the art … Read more

16 YA Books For Your #Blackathon2021 TBR

16 YA Books For Your #Blackathon2021 TBR

[ad_1] Blackathon is one of our favorite read-a-thons of the year, and this month it’s back for round four! Created by BookTuber Jesse from Bowties & Books, #Blackathon2021 centers books and works by Black and African American authors and creators throughout February. You can participate across YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, so check out the Blackathon … Read more

Order and Politics in “This is Not Normal” – Chicago Review of Books

Order and Politics in “This is Not Normal” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In Cass Sunstein’s book This is Not Normal, he observes that “…the success of President Trump has made many people fear that a president, with his current powers, might have the ability to undermine the foundations of a democratic order, above all by altering the understanding of what counts as normal.”  Um, yes. I … Read more

The 400-Year Continuum We All Share with Ida B. Wells – Chicago Review of Books

The 400-Year Continuum We All Share with Ida B. Wells – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Reading about Ida B. Wells is like reading a biography of activism itself, of a whole flock of lives lived. Born into enslavement in Mississippi in 1862, Wells died in 1931, a year after running for the Illinois State Senate. In between, she became, at sixteen, the primary caregiver to five younger siblings after … Read more

Dantiel W. Moniz’s “Milk Blood Heat” is a Debut to Remember – Chicago Review of Books

Dantiel W. Moniz’s “Milk Blood Heat” is a Debut to Remember – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Heat is the operative word in the title of Dantiel W. Moniz’s debut collection, Milk Blood Heat, because these stories are fire. There is the Florida heat, certainly, as most of the stories are set in Jacksonville and the surrounding area, but there is more to it than mere setting. In this case, the … Read more