Reading Homer in 2025: When men were men and gods were gods

“Come, men of Troy and Trojan women; look upon Hektor if ever before you were joyful when you saw him … More

BLOODLANDS: Six Amazon Original Stories by Harold Schechter

Harold Schechter is a great voice in modern true crime narratives. Professor Emeritus of literature and pop culture at Queens … More

Pure Hope Itself: The Indomitable Life and Death of Alexei Navalny

This book devastated me. I read three-quarters of it sitting in the hospital while my youngest was being checked out … More

“The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough.” Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin is easily my favorite read of the year. This was one of those … More

#763 The Color Purple (1985) and The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

Somehow it took me three English degrees, writing and teaching for over twenty years, and a hazy summer in 2023 … More

Toxic Gonzo Live! Happy Birthday, Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut

I never knew that Kurt Vonnegut had two plays in his repertoire… but after reading Casey Sherman’s Helltown (see my … More

Radio Waves: A Post-Punk Novel by Shawna-Lee I. Perrin

Radio Waves is the independently-released first novel from Shawna-Lee I. Perrin. It tells the story of Viv Pierce, a college-radio … More

#637 In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no Corrida) (1976)

In The Realm of the Senses is one of those early films where the genre of pornography was still in its global … More

The Strawberry Statement by James Simon Kunen (and directed by Stuart Hagmann)

The Strawberry Statement was one of those surprise purchases from a library book sale. There was something about a slim … More

Static in the Jungle: “Ducks, Newburyport” by Lucy Ellmann

The sheer contemporariness of this book in terms of what it is about, how it is executed, and the meanderings … More