Deep Vellum Review by Walter Cummins Most novels develop around one or more central unknowns, not necessarily mysteries, but stated or unstated questions that impel the plot. Will some Ramsays…
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Cucina Povera: The Italian Way of Transforming Humble Ingredients into Memorable Meals by Giulia Scarpaleggia
Artisan Review by Linda Lappin September 2023 marks a solemn occasion in Italy, the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Nazi Occupation which devastated Tuscany from September 1943 until…
Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge, from Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester
Harper Collins Review by Walter Cummins While Simon Winchester’s book is an entertaining read because he writes well and tells a good story, a more accurate title might be Knowing…
In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey by Jeff Biggers
Melville House Review by Linda Lappin Sardinia’s landscapes captivate visitors: pink granite cliffs whipped into weird shapes, massive basalt boulders, tawny hills where tiny wild horses roam, dunes of sparkling…
Fat Time and Other Stories by Jeffery Renard Allen
Graywolf Review by Walter Cummins The contents of most short story collections are united by similarities of voice, tone, and subject matter. Despite differences of characters, dramatic issues, and even…
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
Harper Review by Jinny Webber A manhunt across the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven in 1660 drives Robert Harris’ latest novel, Act of Oblivion. Two officers in Oliver…
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
Farrar Straus and Giroux Review by Jinny Webber “There will be time, there will be time / to prepare to meet the faces that you meet,” but what a different…
The Wonder Paradox: Embracing the Weirdness of Existence and the Poetry of Our Lives by Jennifer Michael Hecht
Farrar, Straus & Giroux Review by George Yatchisin It’s not every self-helpish book that asks you to create your own poetry anthology, but The Wonder Paradox is sui generis. As…
A Place in the World by Frances Mayes
Crown Review by Linda Lappin In her new memoir, A Place in the World: Finding the Meaning of Home, Frances Mayes, now in her eighties, looks back on the houses,…