The Republic of Poetry by Martín Espada
Martín Espada, The Republic of Poetry, poems: The republic in Espada’s eighth collection is a glorious place of odes and elegies, memory and history, miracles and justice. (Norton)
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Toussaint Louverture by Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell, Toussaint Louverture, a biography: A masterful portrait of the man who led the first—and only—successful slave revolution in history. (Pantheon)
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In All Their Animal Brilliance by Lance Larsen
Jane Hirshfield recommends In All Their Animal Brilliance, poems by Lance Larsen: “Lance Larsen’s second collection is a book that reaches a genuinely startling excellence. Its best poems are striking, masterful at the level of sentence and image, and also in the fierceness of both intelligence and compassion they bring to their disparate subjects. Imaginatively…
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The Bad Secret by Judith Harris
Joyce Peseroff recommends The Bad Secret, poems by Judith Harris: "Pain—the pain of illness and the pain of loss—is the background to Judith Harris’s second book of poems, but not its subject. Like Dickinson, Harris’s acute perceptions of the natural world convey feeling and insight beyond autobiography. Harris’s language is always precise, and her metaphors…
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The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford
Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land, a novel: In this triumphant follow-up to Independence Day, Frank Bascombe returns, acutely in thrall, as always, to life’s endless complexities. (Knopf)
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The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry edited by Sue Ellen Thompson
Maxine Kumin recommends The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, edited by Sue Ellen Thompson: “Ninety-four poets are represented in this collection, ranging from the usual suspects to some very bright up-and-comers. There are also photos and bio material, making this a rich, worthy addition to the general library and the poetry lover’s bookshelf.”…
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House of War by James Carroll
James Carroll, House of War, nonfiction: Carroll draws on rich personal experience as well as exhaustive research to produce an intimate, searing, and emotional history of “the Building” known as the Pentagon. (Houghton Mifflin)
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The Stories of Mary Gordon by Mary Gordon
Mary Gordon, The Stories of Mary Gordon, stories: These forty-one pieces, half of which are new or have never been collected, masterfully capture the nuances of modern life. (Pantheon)
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Here and Hereafter by Elton Glaser
Joyce Peseroff recommends Here and Hereafter, poems by Elton Glaser: “Glaser’s sixth collection of poems remains rooted in this life as it considers the pull of the next. His gardener’s take on the natural world, spiced with wit and a gift for the extravagantly precise image, makes for satisfying poems time and again. Most poignant…
Spring 2021 - Digital