The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker

Black Cat Review by Walter Cummins In its opening section Martin Riker’s The Guest Lecture appears to be a critical study in disguise, a consideration of John Maynard Keynes based…

Bored in Arcane Cursive Under Lodgepole Bark by H. L. Hix

Middle Creek Review by Walter Cummins In yet another of life’s serendipitous coincidences I happened to read Mark Hillringhouse’s 1982 interview with Howard Moss, the New Yorker’s long-time poetry editor,…

Putting Word to Something for Which There Are No Words: An Interview with Cynthia Hogue

H. L. Hix In this conversation, H. L. Hix asks after poet Cynthia Hogue’s most recent collections, Contain (Tram Editions, 2022) and instead, it is dark (Red Hen, 2023). H.…

General Release from the Beginning of the World by Donna Spruijt-Metz

Parlor Review by Catherine Abbey Hodges I can’t remember when I last read a book of poems that I’d call suspenseful. Donna Spruijt-Metz’s new poetry collection, General Release from the…

Coolest American Stories 2023 Edited by Mark Wish and Elizabeth Coffey

Coolest Stories Press Review by Jack Smith Coolest American Stories 2023 is the second in a series of anthologized short stories, edited by Mark Wish and Elizabeth Coffey.  In numerous…

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope by Sarah Bakewell

Penguin Review by Walter Cummins Sarah Bakewell begins Humanly Possible by delineating the characteristics of humanism and then goes on to describe how these ideas emerged and were developed through…

Forgetting: The Benefits of Not Remembering by Scott A. Small

Crown Review by Walter Cummins One of the frequent plaints that emerges when two or more people of my age get together is lamentation over what we’ve been forgetting, primarily…

Seeking Authenticity by Walter Cummins

Del Sol Review by Jack Smith In this collection of essays and reviews, Walter Cummins, short story writer and essayist, deals with a broad range of topics, among them DNA…

Take What You Need by Idra Novey

Viking Review by Walter Cummins The words of Idra Novey’s title, Take What You Need, suggest a sign scrawled on a heap of broken, useless stuff not worth a payment.…

Six California Kitchens: A Collection of Recipes, Stories, and Cooking Lessons from a Pioneer of California CuisineSix California Kitchens by Sally Schmitt

Chronicle Books Review by George Yatchisin Sally Schmitt’s posthumous publication Six California Kitchens proves you can write a powerful memoir one recipe at a time. Whether the book will become…