The last segment for 2011. For the full list, see 2011 Books Read.

126. The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides

Centres around Madeleine Hanna, an English major in an on-again-off-again relationship with Leonard Morten (who may or may not be David Foster Wallace), much to the chagrin of Mitchell Grammaticus, who’s in love with fair Madeleine.

It received mixed reviews, but I had fun with it. I like lit crit, deconstructionist thought, and spiritual ambiguity. Continue reading »

In addition to its usual excellent content,⁽¹⁾ issue 54 of Broken Pencil contains two reviews from me, which I’m super excited about.

The first review is of Afflictions & Departures, by Madeline Sonik. Part memoir, part history, I later learned it was nominated as a finalist for the 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction. Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary ended up claiming the prize, but Sonik was in excellent company.

The second review is of Stephen Cain’s I Can Say Interpellation!, a collection of children’s rhymes rewritten as politically charged poems. Neat stuff.⁽²⁾

It’s a great magazine, check it out!

Footnotes:

1. Especially check out “Zine vs. Art”, by Laura Trethewey, which explores what amounts to the gentrification of the zine scene. [↩]
2. Stephen Cain seemed like it! [↩]

Better late than never.

105. Short Talks, by Anne Carson

This is the first collection I’ve read from Carson, and these prose poems have turned me into a budding fan. I adored Short Talks and must read more from her.

106. 100 Jams, Jellies Preserves & Pickles, by Gloria Nicol

On the surface the recipes seemed great, but when it came to actually making them, I had little idea how much each would yield, as for most recipes no actual measurements are given. I ended up guessing wrong for a few of them and ended up with oddly filled jars.

107. Working the Room, by Geoff Dyer

Previously I’d only read his introductory essay to Apropos Rodin, but I kept hearing great things about Dyer, so I decided to pick up his latest. The essays collected span an eclectic range, from photography, art, book reviews and literary commentary to more personal essays. Continue reading »