I’ve never written a poetry review before, so perhaps I’m doing this all wrong. Perhaps I should talk of meter and rhyme, cadence and word choice. But I’m not going to do that. I shall leave such things to those better versed in the criticism of poetry. Instead, I shall approach these verses as a reader. For, though I’ve studied […]
Review of Walking Song Published at Curator
A few weeks ago, WORLD magazine published a review of Ron Block’s new album, Walking Song. While, in essence, the review was positive, it was, quite possibly, one of the most dismissive I’ve ever read. The reviewer seemed to be saying that the promotional material for the album, which talks about the process of creating it, should be ignored and the […]
Jenny Youngman’s The Girl With Good Intentions: A Consideration
A few weeks ago, my friend Julie asked if I’d be willing to listen to Jenny Youngman’s new album, The Girl with Good Intentions (released August 1, 2013 on iTunes and for sale on her site) and write about it somewhere. I agreed, and then ran into some existential angst and general busyness that delayed my doing so. A note […]
By Design: Book Review (ish)
Almost a year ago I began working with Dr. Martha MacCullough, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Cairn University to shape her manuscript on educational philosophy into a book. I learned a lot about the editing process, educational philosophy, page layout, and the awesome name pairings of educational scholars (seriously, “Chubb and Moe”? “Long and Frye”? “Bigge and Shermis”? I came to […]
The Gospel According to Eliot
This winter, I’m taking part in a virtual reading group hosted by Greener Trees. We’re going through the book The Art of T.S. Eliot, by Helen Gardner. I adore Eliot’s Four Quartets, so Gardner’s examination of Eliot’s work through the lens of that great work has been right up my alley. I was asked to write a guest post for […]
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes: Book Review
“Adventure ho!” reads the author’s inscription on the first page. Jonathan Auxier is a friend of a friend who lent me her signed copy of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes for a read. Auxier wasn’t wrong. From the first page, Peter Nimble rollicks forward through adventure with barely a missed beat along the way. Peter Nimble is an orphan, […]
"Every Creation Myth Needs a Devil."
I finally saw The Social Network yesterday. Yes, I know I’m well behind the times. But, you know, these things happen. There were many fascinating aspects to the film. I see why they have continually pointed out that this is an unauthorized version of events, and that these are characters based upon the real people, not representations of the people […]