Knopf Review by Brian Tanguay As I read Omar El Akkad’s scathing polemic exposing the moral shortcomings of the Western world order, I was reminded of the Fire Next Time…
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American Artifacts by Matt Black
Thames & Hudson Review by David Starkey In 2021, photographer Matt Black published American Geography, a record of his 100,000 mile, 46-state journey to more than 1,200 of the most…
Expatriates of No Country: The Letters of Shirley Hazzard and Donald Keene, Edited by Brigitta Olubas
Columbia Review by David Starkey Shirley Hazzard and Donald Keene are far from household names. Granted, Hazzard was the author two widely acclaimed novels—The Transit of Venus (1980), winner of…
Ley Lines: A Novel by Tim Welsh
Guernica Editions Review by Brian Tanguay What I know of the Klondike gold rush comes from reading “The Call of the Wild” and “White Fang” by Jack London in my…
Golden State: The Making of California by Michael Hiltzik
Mariner Review by David Starkey The first time I really noticed the bumper stickers on the cars in front of me was when I began driving, in the late 1970s.…
Audubon as Artist: A New Look at The Birds of America by Roberta J. M. Olson
Reaktion Review by David Starkey Before turning to Roberta J.M. Olson’s Audubon as Artist: A New Look at the Birds of America, in a gorgeously reproduced edition by Reaktion Books,…
Twist by Colum McCann
Random House Review by Walter Cummins Although Colum McCann doesn’t refer to the 1948-49 Shannon-Weaver theory of communication, my remembering it helped me understand his novel Twist, in which the…
No Bars to Manhood: A Powerful, Personal Statement on Radical Confrontation with Contemporary Society by Daniel Berrigan
WIPF & STOCK Review by Brian Tanguay Where does courage come from? Why do certain people sacrifice their liberty, and sometimes their very lives for a principle, while others remain…
Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Simon & Schuster Review by Walter Cummins Valerie Gillis closes the message to her mother that begins the novel Heartwood with this crucial memory: “But for a while, in your…
What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory by Brian Eno and Bette A.
Faber and Faber Review by George Yatchisin At a mere 4.5 by 6.5 inches, only 122 pages long, with a cover that’s bright white and soothing flamingo pink, Brian Eno…