Poems to Settle into in “House of Sound” – Chicago Review of Books

Poems to Settle into in “House of Sound” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] We’ve become wanderers in our own backyards these days. Without my daily commute on the bus and the random interactions with strangers that often come with it, I’ve found myself becoming more curious on my afternoon walks. I like to spot pets peeking their heads through open apartment windows, give a mask-veiled smile out … Read more

Saving Our Water, Our World in “Future Sea” – Chicago Review of Books

Our review of "Future Sea," by Deborah Rowan Wright.

[ad_1] Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World’s Oceans delivers not only the promised “how” but also the reasons why we should safeguard the ocean from human activities. Advocate and researcher Deborah Rowan Wright outlines the critical link between the ocean’s health and our ability to mitigate global warming, the tremendous potential of … Read more

The Mysteries and Melodies of Memory in “Invisible Ink.” – Chicago Review of Books

The Mysteries and Melodies of Memory in “Invisible Ink.” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] When the great Patrick Modiano says he is writing a detective story, rest assured it won’t be a Sherlock-esque exhibition of armchair deductions or Poirot-like psychoanalysis of a criminal. Most likely, there won’t even be a crime.  Jean Eyben, the narrator of Modiano’s Invisible Ink, is barely a detective. He really only spent a … Read more

Well-Paced Suspense in “Greyfriars Reformatory” – Chicago Review of Books

Well-Paced Suspense in “Greyfriars Reformatory” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In Frazer Lee’s Greyfriars Reformatory, Emily Drake has no memory of what she did to get sent to the imposing brick institution she first sees looming before her through the window of a prisoner transport bus. It will be her prison until and unless she submits to experimental psychological treatment designed to cure her … Read more

Poetry, Prose, and Politics in “Make Me Rain” – Chicago Review of Books

Poetry, Prose, and Politics in “Make Me Rain” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Nikki Giovanni—one of the great poets of any generation—still has much to impart in Make Me Rain, her hybrid autobiography of poems and prose.  Given the tumultuous aspects of 2020, the disruptions and dislocations of quotidian and public life, there’s a refreshing discordance in reading Giovanni’s newest and especially personal collection. Throughout the book, … Read more

Madness, Civilization, and the Poetry of Violence in Artaud the Mômo – Chicago Review of Books

Madness, Civilization, and the Poetry of Violence in Artaud the Mômo – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Antonin Artaud was one of the foundational voices in establishing the modern avant garde. His famous writings on The Theater and Its Double, and Theatre of Cruelty, place him alongside Breton and Brecht in creating the contemporary understanding of avant-garde practice. This new collection, Artaud the Mômo, draws from his last period of writing, … Read more

A Crucial Collapse in “The Ministry for the Future” – Chicago Review of Books

A Crucial Collapse in “The Ministry for the Future” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Burning Worlds is Amy Brady’s monthly column dedicated to examining how contemporary literature interrogates issues of climate change, in partnership with Yale Climate Connections. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter to get “Burning Worlds” and other writing about art and climate change delivered straight to your inbox. Called the “greatest political novelist” of our time by the New Yorker, … Read more

A Time of Troubles – Chicago Review of Books

A Time of Troubles – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] The following is an excerpt from Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel The Ministry for the Future. It is a work of fiction. Courtesy of Hachette Book Group. Following the great Indian heat wave, the emergency meeting of the Paris Agreement signatories was fraught indeed. The Indian delegation arrived in force, and their leader Chandra Mukajee … Read more

A Spring of Maternal Mythologies in “Hinge” – Chicago Review of Books

A Spring of Maternal Mythologies in “Hinge” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] The many hauntings of a mother’s body coalesce in Hinge, a new poetry collection by Molly Spencer. With stories ranging from the ancient myths of Persephone and Demeter to the modern folklore of Peter Pan, Hinge examines a girl’s dreams alongside a mother’s fears. In Spencer’s poetry, pain is chronic in the body, persistent … Read more

Canonical Queerness and Gothic Horror in “Plain Bad Heroines” – Chicago Review of Books

Canonical Queerness and Gothic Horror in “Plain Bad Heroines” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In 1902 at The Brookhants School for Girls, The Story of Mary MacLane is found on the bodies of Flo and Clara, two girls, in love, stung to death by yellow jackets in an apple orchard. The little red book mysteriously disappears, only to be found again and again by the women who need … Read more