As the legions of fans of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series will no doubt readily attest, JLB knows how to write a good story. In that regard, Clete (Atlantic Monthly Press 2024) is no different as it’s a darn fine tale of friendship, danger, and despair. It has flashes of noir thriller and exposes […]
“Foraging Kentucky : An Introduction to the Edible Plants, Fungi, and Three Crops of the Southeast” by George Barnett
June 1, 2024 by Leave a Comment
What does an ideal field guide look like? It has enough information to be useful in a variety of wild places, but not so much that the reader gets lost in thickets of unnecessary text. Forager George Barnett’s first book , Foraging Kentucky (University Press of Kentucky 2024), masterfully shepherds plant enthusiasts through the terrain […]
“Dirt Songs” by Kari Gunter-Seymour
May 15, 2024 by 1 Comment
In Dirt Songs (Eastover Press 2024), Kari Gunter-Seymour proves she is at the top of her game by evoking both the wild energy and lustful passion of youth and the regrets such indulgences oft engender later in life. Other poems in the collection beautifully capture the natural world of Appalachia through precise language and fresh […]
“Hell Put to Shame, the 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America’s Second Slavery” by Earl Swift
May 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment
If you’re noticing the 1921 date in the subtitle of Hell Put to Shame (Mariner Books 2024) and thinking debt “peonage” is a past atrocity, forget it. Also known as debt slavery, the practice lives on, often targeting poor, unemployed, and homeless people. Today, it’s often immigrants. In 2010, a federal grand jury, author Earl […]
“Because I Loved You” by Donnaldson Brown
May 14, 2024 by Leave a Comment
In some ways, the broad scope of Because I Loved You (She Writes Press 2023) by Donnaldson Brown never fully transcends its opening chapters about the impact of a first love. The novel spans several decades in a relationship between a couple who first fall in love as adolescents. The novel’s early sections which involve […]
“Night Watch” by Jayne Anne Phillips wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
May 14, 2024 by Leave a Comment
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, stands at the center of Jayne Anne Phillips’ latest novel, Night Watch (Knopf 2023). It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, is long-listed for the National Book Award in Fiction, and is a New Yorker Best Book of the Year. The Civil War’s aftermath of wounded men and […]