July 2007
A poem by Sommer Browning
Peer Review:
Sex on the Beach
In our monthly feature, Sam Sacks clambers over the mountain of
reviews of Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach, spotting perspicacity,
purple prose, and possible pickpocketing along the way.
Wishful Thinking
Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us has an irresistible premise: what
would happen on Earth if human beings suddenly disappeared? Steve
Donoghue cheerfully follows Weisman’s lead.
Death by Landscape
Annie Dillard’s distilled, introspective voice described marvels in
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, but can it power a novel? John Cotter
tacks down The Maytrees.
Ex Cathedra
Ignazio de Vega conducts a careful exegesis of Pope Benedict XVI’s
Jesus of Nazareth and discovers in it a remarkable quality: a spirit
of reconciliation
He Died
Vincent Bugliosi has written a 1,621 page book about the Kennedy
assassination. Steve Donoghue guides us through it and the terrible
three minutes in Dealey Plaza that changed everything about our world.
Useful Disasters
Like The Kite Runner before it, A Thousand Splendid Suns owns
real estate on the top of the bestseller list. Sam Sacks dares to
unlock the secret of Khaled Hosseini.
Two from Black Ocean Press
Chris Tonelli tackles the wily metaphysics of Zachary Schomburg’s
The Man Suit and Paula Cisewski’s Upon Arrival.
Some Assembly Required
Michael Ondaatje’s Divisadero is a jarring experience, composed of
fractured images and plot strands. Karen Vanuska helps us put its
pieces together.
Absent Friends:
Himself
The only trouble with Sean O’Casey’s brilliant plays is that they overshadow
his magnificent memoirs. In our monthly feature, Steve Donoghue
tries to even the scales.
Quiz: Piggies!
Test your smarts and tempt fate with this most un-kosher of Open Letters
quizzes
The Cover Photo for July comes to us from Kirsten Lewis, a documentary photographer based in Richmond, Virginia. She specializes in wedding, birth, maternity and commercial photography –
please visit her at her website, Innate Photographics.
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