by David Starkey Back in 2014, when I was reviewing books for the Santa Barbara Independent, I proposed an offbeat idea to my editor. I would offer one very short…
Author: David Starkey
2021 Poetry Month Reviews: April 15 -21
By David Starkey Back in 2014, when I was reviewing books for the Santa Barbara Independent, I proposed an offbeat idea to my editor. I would offer one very short…
2021 Poetry Month Reviews: April 8 -14
By David Starkey Back in 2014, when I was reviewing books for the Santa Barbara Independent, I proposed an offbeat idea to my editor. I would offer one very short…
2021 Poetry Month Reviews: April 1 -7
By David Starkey Back in 2014, when I was reviewing books for the Santa Barbara Independent, I proposed an offbeat idea to my editor. I would offer one very short…
My Vanishing Country by Bakari Sellers
Review by David Starkey There is much to recommend My Vanishing Country, a memoir by the former (and future?) politician and current CNN commentator Bakari Sellers. Growing up in a…
How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy
Review by David Starkey How to Write One Song is an okay book by a great songwriter. Unlike the carefully crafted lyrics of Tweedy’s songs for his band Wilco, the…
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Review by David Starkey “In October 2018, inspired by the centenary of the great flu,” Emma Donoghue tells us in the Author’s Note of her new novel, “I began writing…
Rodham: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld
Review by David Starkey The first of the three parts of Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel Rodham is entitled “The Catch,” and it mostly follows the historical record of Bill Clinton and…
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
Review by David Starkey As she tells it in her memoir Memorial Drive, former United States Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey had a relatively idyllic childhood, especially for a biracial girl…
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Review by David Starkey Elizabeth Strout is a fine writer, and novels such as The Burgess Boys and My Name Is Lucy Barton are very good. Still, Olive Kitteridge, her…