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Category: Reviews

On Ander Monson’s “Letter to a Future Lover”

On Ander Monson’s “Letter to a Future Lover”

Review of Ander Monson, “Letter to a Future Lover,” from The Best of Brevity, edited by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore, 20-21.  Brookline, MA: Rose Metal Press, 2020. Briefly, this essay is a lyrical rumination on an enigmatic inscription within a used copy of Gary Snyder’s Turtle Island, an inscription to a lover.  The narrator wonders if this letter was ever sent and to whom it may have been intended.  The narrator muses on how this found its way into…

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On “Wide Open Spaces”

On “Wide Open Spaces”

Review of Kathryn Miller, “Wide Open Spaces,” from The Best of Brevity, edited by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore, 29-30 .  Brookline, MA: Rose Metal Press, 2020. Kathryn Miller’s “Wide Open Spaces” from The Best of Brevity possesses little of the beauty we typically associate with such a phrase.  I think of the West, the Chicks, (formerly the Dixie Chicks), and empty highways, not scars and bullets.  Miller’s short essay recounts her visit to police station to view the…

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On “Before Sunrise”

On “Before Sunrise”

Review of Erika Dreifus, “Before Sunrise,” from The Best of Brevity, edited by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore, 96-98.  Brookline, MA: Rose Metal Press, 2020. This is a harrowing story of resilience.  “Before Sunrise” tells the story of a woman, a second-person “you”, who was assaulted while running along the East River at midday.  The essay begins with the return to her apartment sometime later in the day; there does not seem to be any clear time markers, but…

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Review of “Muse of Brooklyn”

Review of “Muse of Brooklyn”

Review of David Lazar, “Muse of Brooklyn: I Would Never Study but in My Dreams” from Don’t Look Now: Things We Wish We Hadn’t Seen, Ed. Kristen Iversen and David Lazar, 207-12.  Columbus, OH: Mad Creek Press, 2020.  David Lazar’s “Muse of Brooklyn” is a lyrical and enigmatic piece.  Not long, but deep – death and its recollections.  I was caught off guard by its ethereal language.  The title suggested to me something concrete; I guess that’s how I think…

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On “Lizard Brains”

On “Lizard Brains”

Review of Nicole Walker, “Lizard Brains” from Don’t Look Now: Things We Wish We Hadn’t Seen.  Ed. Kristen Iversen and David Lazar, 63-67.  Columbus, OH: Mad Creek Press, 2020.  During my hiatus over the last couple months, I have been reading a lot of literary non-fiction.  So I thought I would share some of my thoughts on what I have been reading in this space.  This is the first in a series of reviews. I know that some people find…

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Low Clouds: A Review of Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You

Low Clouds: A Review of Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You

NB: Reviews posted on LiberationNow are not intended to be timely or aesthetically focused.  Although some reviews may be timely, works of art and cultural production come to us at different places and times and speak to us in those moments outside of chronology or official release dates.   I offer this review and all others from a space of personal interaction and engagement with the book, movie, or piece of music under review as a practice of the philology of…

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