The Emperor of Water Clocks
The Emperor of Water Clocks: Poems Yusef Komunyakaa Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015; 128pp Yusef Komunyakaa’s poems are governed by a deeply anthropological sensibility. This allows the...
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Dispatches From Area 51
I See You Made An Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories From the Edge of 50 Annabelle Gurwitch Blue Rider Press/Penguin Random House, 2014; 256pp “Maintaining a sense of humor...
read moreDid Dark Matter Kill the Dinosaurs?
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe Lisa Randall Ecco, 2015; 432pp In 1908, an object that may have been an asteroid or a comet exploded a...
read moreOnly In Dreams
Daydreams of Angels: Stories Heather O’Neill Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015; 368pp A girl and a boy sit in a kitchen listening to their grandfather’s absurd stories of Christmas...
read moreAltered States
“We’re going to get very intimate very quickly,” promised the evening’s first speaker, Tony Award-winning playwright Doug Wright, at the House of SpeakEasy’s Altered...
read moreIn Heaven, Everything Is Fine
Heaven: Poems Rowan Ricardo Phillips Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015; 80pp Heaven, Rowan Ricardo Phillips’s new collection, dazzles. Nominated last week for the National Book Award, it’s...
read moreThe New Greatest Generation: The Mission Continues
Charlie Mike: A True Story of Heroes Who Brought Their Mission Home Joe Klein Simon & Schuster, 2015; 320pp The mind, body, and spirit of the American soldier are at the heart of Joe...
read moreDoug Wright and the Erotics of Language
Doug Wright’s work is a broad church. He won an Obie in 1996 for the arch, racy Quills, which imagines the last days of the Marquis de Sade in the Charenton asylum. In 2004, he won a Tony and...
read moreIraq: The Unraveling
The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq by Emma Sky PublicAffairs, 2015; 400pp One of the most remarkable features of Emma Sky’s gripping account of her experiences during...
read moreGrowing Up With George
A Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up With George by Kelly Carlin St. Martin’s Press, 2015; 336pp George Carlin plays the part of the magical storybook father for much of his daughter...
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