This poet gets right to the point in her latest collection. The first poem begins, “I am translating the world,” an ambitious goal, to say the least, but also an ars poetica applicable to most poets. And lest any reader have the... Read More

Rarely has a student of country music imbedded himself as deeply and profitably in the subject as this author does. Fox first came to the little town of Lockhart, Texas—the site of this study—in February 1990. He says he was... Read More

“Why a comfortable family should suddenly pack off across the seas to a rain-lashed chimera in the Atlantic is a question that confounds us still, as does the very essence of this brooding island that inspires, baffles, and wounds with... Read More

Given the earthquake of interest in the finale of HBOs Sex and the City—to say nothing of the sales of books like Bridget Joness Diary and The Rules: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right—it is no wonder that... Read More

It can be an odd thing when reading fiction to encounter a likable story about unlikable people, and more peculiar still to come across a collection that consists almost entirely of such pieces. This cycle of twelve interrelated stories... Read More

Even people who don’t really like poetry have a favorite E.E. Cummings poem. Playful, idiosyncratic, and iconoclastically original, Cummings is unique, his work perhaps the most instantly recognized of all American poetry. Yet as this... Read More

In a world focused on youth and the concerns that parents have about raising youth to be safe and happy, it may come as some surprise that most teens don’t believe that adults really care about them or what their daily lives are like.... Read More