Puma Perl’s Retrograde (Book Review) by David McLean
This is Puma Perl’s second full length collection of poetry. Moving backwards through memory, but not getting worse, as the title might imply. I am assuming that it is not used in the medical sense or the original astrological sense, but maybe in the musical sense, of imitation, or the metamorphosis of organs in botany […]
Why the Environmentalists are a Bunch of Lousy, Whining Punks (Satire) by Daniel Galef
There has been some talk in recent days of ecological conservation, as if the outdoors were something small and easily misplaced that might wink away of we take our eyes off of it. Trees are lauded like derby-winning horses and coddled like precocious children, as if a tree has ever done any favors for any […]
The Educated Class at Play (Satire) by Michael Andreoni
Couple A: Work Work Work Kids Kids Kids Couple B: Work Work Work Kids Kids Kids Couple C: Work Work Work Work Work Couple A: […]
E-Reader Accessories for the Terminally Indolent (Satire) By Fred D. White
The shift to digital books has fueled an arms race among digital start-ups seeking to cash in on the massive pool of data collected by e-reading devices and reading apps. –Alexandra Alter, “Your E-Book is Reading You,” A&E, July 19, 2012 While e-reader manufacturers struggle to make sense of the reading habits of more than […]
Felino A. Soriano’s Espials (Book Review) by Hala Hoagland
Stitching his language into the realm of the ethereal is what we find in Espials, a grand book of 100 poems by Felino A. Soriano, published by Fowl Pox Press, 2014. The book is delicately laced with sublime artwork by Paul E. Valente, a further tribute to this great work. The author is a diviner […]
Clockwise Cats by Alison Ross (Chapbook Review) by David McLean
Alison Ross’ new short chapbook is exquisite work. The poems are visual and depict a surreal landscape, drowned in dusk and darkness, like a painting by Miró, since Miró is the theme of the book and Alison would like to live in one his paintings. I suppose she might holiday in a Cure video, maybe […]
Smoking Tobacco on Painted Mountains (CD mini-reviews) by Alison Ross
If there was ever band whose music conjured the disorienting sensations of synesthesia, Tobacco is it. At times the songs on “Ultima II Massage” sound like melting, warping colors and textures. Darkly, bizarrely kaleidescopic, the swampy sonic swirls are leavened with lightening flashes of cold melody. The slithery, buoyant grooves of R&B and hip hop […]
Society’s Scapegoats (Polemic) by Alison Ross
A new report came out that said that US public school teachers toil in much more distressed conditions than their international industrial-world counterparts. U.S. teachers work longer hours, are paid less, and are less supported. SURPRISE! For though we tout ourselves as having one of the best educational systems in the world, the fact of […]
Faux-topia: The Gift of The Giver (Film Review) by Alison Ross
When it comes to literature, I tend to be an elitist reader. I like tomes that are philosophical in nature, that have complex themes and scintillating, lyrical writing. I no longer indulge in much “light reading.” I need my books to challenge me intellectually and emotionally. So bearing that in mind, it’s for this reason […]
Femmehood: The Unexpected Feminist Subtext of Boyhood (Film Review) by Alison Ross
In conversation with the Village Voice, director Richard Linklater said of “Boyhood,” his critically revered recent release: “… it could be Girlhood or Motherhood or Familyhood.” While I disagree that the movie could also have been called “Girlhood,” I do agree it could have been called “Motherhood,” for the film focuses almost as intensely on the mother, played by Patricia Arquette […]
Old Souls, But Just Kids (Book Review) by Alison Ross
I am chagrined to confess that Patti Smith has only very recently become one of my favorite musicians – she wasn’t even really on my radar until the past few years. I had known of her, obviously, and had heard few of her tunes, but her bohemian-punk aesthetic did not really appeal to me until […]
