‘Grief Is for People’ Is a Loving Model for Sudden Loss
Grief Is for People is a loving portrait of a dear friend and an offering of shared wisdom for the bereaved rooted in emotional chaos and its subsequent clarity.
Linda Levitt
Reading, thinking, talking and writing. Communication PhD and assoc prof in Texas.
‘Conflict Graffiti’ and the Artists That Use Public Spaces for Public Discourse
Situating his study at sites of conflict and interviewing artists, scholar John Lennon’s Conflict Graffiti gives readers new perspectives for interpreting the graffiti and street art they encounter.
Kaitlyn Tiffany Argues for Fandom’s Undeniable Influence on Life Online
Kaitlyn Tiffany’s history of fandom and its influence on life online, Everything I Need I Get From You, is both lighthearted and erudite.
It Better Rhyme: ‘The Stasi Poetry Circle’
When historian Philip Oltermann is handed the Stasi file for Uwe Berger, leader of the Stasi Poetry Circle, he gives the GDR’s dark history a poetic twist.
Our Era of ‘Confidence Culture’ Preserves the Status Quo for Women
How confidence cult(ure) repackages long-repeated ideas to make them more appealing and to hold women responsible for the damage done to them.
Punk-Influenced Playwright Alvin Eng Airs the Laundry in His New Memoir
Accomplished playwright Alvin Eng’s fluency across cultures and punk rock, theatrical performance, playwriting, and journalism makes for an engaging memoir.
Laurie Anderson’s Big Science Is a Multifaceted Approach to the Artist and Her Art
Professor and music critic S. Alexander Reed takes an immersive approach to Laurie Anderson’s Big Science and writes as if he is in conversation with the artist.
Amanda Lotz Dismantles Mythologies in ‘Media Disrupted’
Did the internet kill the music industry? Is cable television dead? Media scholar Amanda D. Lotz explores these concepts and their misconceptions in Media Disrupted.
What Is Identity in Our Digital Age of ‘The Extreme Self’?
Do you look “real” in virtual space? Such existential questions are central to ‘The Extreme Self’, which explores identity in our digital world.
Memoir ‘Supremely Tiny Acts’ Resonates with Intellect and Intimacy
Sonya Huber’s memoir, Supremely Tiny Acts, gives readers access to a witty mind that is full of delightful surprises discovered in a single day.
Judy Chicago’s Feminist Art Is Still Flowering
In her autobiography Still Flowering, Judy Chicago also offers a plainspoken, powerful discussion about the growth of feminist art.
Memoir and Criticism in Matthew Specktor’s ‘Always Crashing the Same Car’
As a critic of both films and literature, Matthew Specktor has a balanced touch that keeps the scales even in his memoir, Always Crashing in the Same Car.