Twenty Thousand PigeonsJustin BigosiO Press, 2014 When I think of twenty thousand pigeons, I think of Disney vacationsand city park picnics from childhood—precious memories ruined by grey birds pooping in my hair and stealing my French fries. But when I think of Twenty Thousand Pigeons, a stunning chapbook of poems by Justin Bigos, I’m instantly…
Zen Bow, Zen Arrow: The Life and Teachings of Awa Kenzo John Stevens Shambhala, 2007 101 pages $12.95 Buy: book | ebook In John Stevens’ half-biography/half-koan-medley Zen Bow, Zen Arrow, we visit bamboo-fenced dojos, learning from early 20th-century Japanese master Awa Kenzo how archery can be a vessel that improves a whole person. In particularly…
There is no better way to pass the coldest season of the year than by cozying up with a good book, and 2015 has started off with a bang. Here are our picks for this winter’s best literary offerings. Disgruntled Asali Solomon FSG, February 3 $26 Buy: book ∣ebook Meet Kenya: acute observer, recurrent sleepwalker,…
CoyoteColin WinnetteLes Figues Press, 201596 pages$17.00 It’s a natural tendency to summarize, to distill entire constellations of events and details into a single swallow of information. Near the beginning of Coyote, Colin Winnette’s protagonist attempts just this, saying “I tell the same story every time: we put her to bed, and when we woke up…
The QB: The Making of Modern QuarterbacksBruce FeldmanCrown Archetype, October 2014304 pages$27.00 Buy: book | ebook Like the casting of James Bond or the election of presidents, the styles, moods, and values of the NFL’s starting quarterbacks in any given generation provide a meaningful reflection of where American masculinity is oriented. So no big surprise,…
Bright Shards of Someplace ElseMonica McFawnUniversity of Georgia Press, September 2014176 pages$24.95 Buy: book Every writer has faced the age-old question, “What makes a story?” History has provided us with plenty of satisfactory answers—in the excitement found in novelty or the resonance found in the ordinary. Monica McFawn’s short story collection Bright Shards of Someplace…
Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems Billy Collins Random House, October 2013 288 Pages $16.00 Buy: book | ebook Three thousand miles away from my library—most of it translated literature, most of it tortuously postmodern—I turned in a lonely hour to my dad’s hardcover copy of Billy Collins’ Aimless Love. I’d never read much of…
Zoologies: On Animals And The Human SpiritAlison Hawthorne DemingMilkweed Editions, October 2014272 pages$18.00 As children, many of us felt instinctually connected to and curious about animals. Maybe we even found solace in imagining our personal dinosaur counterparts. Alison Hawthorne Deming’s book Zoologies: On Animals And The Human Spirit reawakened that in me. In this collection…
Like a BeggarEllen BassCopper Canyon Press, March 201470 pages$16.00 Buy: book Exquisitely wrought in language and imagery, Ellen Bass’s third collection meditates on sequencing images. Her poems open in one place and close elsewhere. She signals this with titles that point toward the firsts and lasts, such as “The Beginning of the End” and “The Morning…
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