When we think of Black American operatic greats, Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price and Paul Robeson usually come to mind. Few have heard of Ruby Pearl Elzy, until now. At age four, Elzy burst into song while attending church in her... Read More
Even people who don’t really like poetry have a favorite E.E. Cummings poem. Playful, idiosyncratic, and iconoclastically original, Cummings is unique, his work perhaps the most instantly recognized of all American poetry. Yet as this... Read More
American Ballet Drama dancer Vova Izlomin is the bad boy of the barre in this wry mystery novel, originally released in 1944. Following a bout of mental illness (he went mad during a performance, “succumbing to the catatonic... Read More
Normally, a photo might say a thousand words. But with these remarkable photos of Africa, that estimate must be raised considerably. Acebes, a Colombian with a decidedly international upbringing and spirit of adventure to match,... Read More
While teacher’s fatigue has yet to acquire the bloody cachet of “going postal,” it does add a complicit shadow pathology to this novel, in both its protagonist and its author. JP Griffith, young, lovelorn, and divorced, takes off... Read More
“If 1960 were assigned a color it would be turquoise.” A unique hue of blue-green represents the author’s own Proustian memory trigger in this charming, funny memoir of her formative years growing up in a small Canadian beach town.... Read More
“I gave the world a shadow of me,” writes the author, “a me who looked like me but wasn’t. I reserved the real Esmeralda in a quiet, secret place no one could reach. I kept that me so hidden I was invisible even to myself.”... Read More
Many people see technological advances as a smooth linear process. A new product is introduced, commercial applications are discovered, and the new technology is embraced, then improved upon as the price drops to a level where the... Read More