First off, Grant Snider unfolds one of our most dogged clichés.
More than one hundred and fourteen years ago, an uprising broke out in China that eventually became known as the Boxer Rebellion. But according to Jennifer Cheng, the movement now occurring in Hong Kong differs fundamentally from that violent, ultra-nationalist Rebellion of the past. Today’s highly-organized movement demands universal suffrage, and, in Cheng’s words, “something even deeper:” it could be a tipping point in the larger struggle for Chinese democracy writ large.
Meanwhile, Kent Shaw considers Jena Osman’s Corporate Relations, “a bona fide political argument for the left,” and asks “Why poetry? … Is poetry going to make a difference?”
Then, in the Sunday Book Review, Heather Partington delves into Jen Michaelski’s “nuanced” story collection, From Here. Michaelski’s “witty” prose showcases her ability to tell authentic stories from different perspectives. This standout collection deserves our attention.
And in the Sunday Rumpus Essay, Amy Jo Burns tackles the mythology of Midwestern football with a clear eye and a poet’s voice. Burns portrays the unofficial religion of small-town America in redemptive and confessional terms. Football, she writes, “lies so sweetly to generation after generation because it lies so lovingly to itself.”
