Category Archives: Reviews

Why Some Like It Hot – Review

Posted on May 1, 2021 by Jeff

“Why Some Like It Hot” by Gary Nabhan, subtitle – “Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity.” The author is described as an ethnobotanist -someone who studies “a region’s plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture … Continue reading →

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Don’t Read Poetry, by Stephanie Burt

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Jeff

Back in the 80s, I lived and worked for a month outside London. Weekends and a few week nights I’d ride the train into Waterloo Station, hop on the Underground, ride part way, then walk the rest to a museum, … Continue reading →

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The Bluebonnet Sutras

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Jeff

These wonderful sutras (Buddhist teachings) were written by Laurence Musgrove, English professor at Angelo State University. With no retreat centers or meditation teachers nearby, he documents his spiritual journey in original sutras, calling into dialogue the imagined persona of the … Continue reading →

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Reading Poetry

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Jeff

I go to a fair number of poetry readings by visiting poets, Open Mics, and poetry festivals (AIPF, Waco WordFest, Georgetown Poetry). Austin gets a modest number of famous poets reading (e.g., Naomi Shihab Nye several times this year). Most … Continue reading →

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The Second Mountain

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Jeff

David Brooks writes a column for the New York Times. He describes himself as a conservative and a Republican. Here in Texas, those labels in the news have been co-opted by small-minded, mean-spirited, xenophobes trying to out do each other … Continue reading →

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LeGuin on Dystopia

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Jeff

Earlier I wrote about several of Ursula K. LeGuin’s books in Dystopias with Light Visible. In Words Are My Matter (an excellent collection of her essays about writing, book reviews, etc.) she says: Dystopia is by its nature a dreary, … Continue reading →

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Dystopias with Light Visible

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Jeff

Most of the Ursula LeGuin books I’ve read are dystopias, not unescapable darkness, but unsettling visions of possible futures or scenarios. The Word for World is Forest is a disturbing portrait of evil even more relevant in these days of … Continue reading →

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Sixer Prompts

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Jeff

In one of my writing groups, someone brought a prompt she described as a sixer, a story in six words: “Iris bloom around steps, house gone.”  From it I wrote a very good poem that is making the submission rounds. … Continue reading →

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Review: The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Jeff

I enjoyed Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and Tiffany Aching stories.  The first page always grabbed me and the climaxes made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.  We lost a great writer when he passed away last fall.  … Continue reading →

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Review: Chasing Francis

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Jeff

Chasing Francis—A Pilgrim’s Tale by Ian Morgan Cron is a novel with workbook and bibliography attached. The novel is not great art, but it is an engaging read. I read it in two sittings, unusual for me. I tend to … Continue reading →

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