Reviews
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Two Extraordinary Books: Bullets into Bells and Inquisition
The obscenities and tragedies of American life pile up with speed, and in quantities, that are appalling.
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Hero and Villain: Emily Pérez’s House of Sugar, House of Stone
How hard it is to trust the difference between sacrifice and sabotage!
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A Kind of Communal History: Nepantla edited by Christopher Soto
Fundamentally, [Nepantla] is an act of history-making in verse.
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Reinventing the World: José Olivarez’s Citizen Illegal
If they come for one of us, they will come for us all.
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With Great Devotion: Julie Marie Wade’s Same-Sexy Marriage
Ultimately, this is a story in which redemption is not a possibility.
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Bearing Witness: Because: A Lyric Memoir by Joshua Mensch
Because is a call for more stories with specifics so well-rendered.
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Our Lady of Perpetual Movement: Analicia Sotelo’s Virgin
These speaker(s) don’t need to offer us explanation.
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Blending Out: Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Despite its title, Oceanic is much more than a love letter to the ocean.
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Taking Control and Staking a Claim: Erin Adair-Hodges’s Let’s All Die Happy
This is lovely writing, alive, thoroughly thought, and thoroughly felt.
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The Depths We Don’t Have Words For: Sally Bliumis-Dunn’s Echolocation
[R]eading these poems feels like looking down into deep water, being able to see only so far and no farther.
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Both Insider and Outsider: Victoria Chang’s Barbie Chang
Barbie Chang is an intelligent, lively portrayal of the pressures on contemporary women (especially mothers), and a breathlessly entertaining read.
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Nesting Dolls: Julie Carr’s Objects from a Borrowed Confession
Would you say poetry, for you, is the vessel which houses all other forms? I would say it is for me.