Read More Contemporary Poetry Yeah, Milton is great, but what do you think about Josh Bell?  What about Ted Kooser?  Any women poets like Kathleen Flenniken or Cortney Davis? The Blizzard VoicesBy Ted KooserWith a new introduction by the author FamousBy Kathleen FlennikenWinner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry Adonis GarageBy Rynn Williams No Planets StrikeBy Josh Bell Leopold’s ManeuversBy Cortney DavisWinner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry Thirty Years War: Love PoemsBy Patricia FerrellIntroduction by Richard Howard2003 Winner of the Paris Review Prize in Poetry Techne’s ClearinghouseBy John Foy Mother QuietBy Martha Rhodes Continue reading New Years Resolution #3 or Yes Virginia, there are living poets!

Eat Better, or Culturally, or Learn a New Recipe, or Just Think about Food Differently Eat Culturally: The Food and Cooking of Eastern EuropeBy Lesley ChamberlainWith a new introduction by the author Learning a little about the food while learning recipes Masters of American Cookery: M. F. K. Fisher, James Beard, Craig Claiborne, Julia ChildBy Betty FussellWith a preface by the author Learn a New Recipe: Good ThingsBy Jane GrigsonFrom the At Table seriesA celebration of fresh daily fare lovingly prepared Think Differently and Literary about food while learning new French recipes: Dining with Marcel Proust: A Practical Guide to … Continue reading New Years Resolution #2

Appreciate More Music True to the Roots: Americana Music RevealedBy Monte Dutton Interviews and portraits of the folks who make Our Kind of Music (OKOM), or Alternative Country, including artists such as Jack Ingram, Brad Paisley, or bands such as Reckless Kelly. When You Sing It Now, Just Like New: First Nations Poetics, Voices, and RepresentationsBy Robin Ridington and Jillian Ridington Essays about stories.  Essays about hearing these stories.  Robing Ridington and Jillian Ridington share their experiences with the Athapaskan-speaking Dane-zaa people, who live in Canada’s Peace River area.  Check out the audio page for When You Sing it Now, … Continue reading New Years Resolution #1

onsider the orchids of the fields. They neither weave nor
sew. Nor do I suspect they sit in the field wondering if the next flower over
is prettier. But humans do.

Yes, I know in the Bible it is lilies, but in Scott
Westerfeld’s book, Uglies, it is
orchids, beautiful and once rare, white orchids that have been genetically
modified to become hardy that take over and crowd out other plants, leaching
the soil and finally leaving the earth barren. This is just a symbol, but it is
a powerful one.

Continue reading “Uglies by Scott Westerfeld”

by Joshua Beran onsidering all that happens to the lead character, there is very little "action" in Elsie’s Business. In place of action, Washburn gives us relationships, internal dialogue, andatmosphere.  Though the book streches over several years, most of it is set in the ruthless South Dakota winter.  Prairie winters are deadly, unchanging, andunwelcoming.  Long winters can close minds, leaving those that live through them locked up with the same people they have always known.  There is stasis; nothing moves, nobody moves.  Even the dead stay above ground, waiting for the land to thaw.  The book can also be seen … Continue reading Exploring Ambiguity in Elsie’s Business

Save 25% on your University of Nebraska Press book order until the end of the year! During the checkout process, enter the following discount code after your credit card information: XDEC6 This offer is good on all regularly priced books purchased through our Web site.* Discount expires December 31, 2006. Browse our featured gift books here *excludes books published by the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements Continue reading Save On UNP Web Orders During the Holiday Season

fter a rant on reading books, I’m now going to discuss a
movie. Oh well. I’ll get to more books next week because I recently got my
hands on the old Vincent Price classic The
House on Haunted Hill. When something is considered a classic it is usually
for one of a couple of reasons. It did it first. Pamela may not be the best novel out there, but where it stands in
history looms so large, it is worth the read. It did it, not only first, but
best. Frankenstein. No one ever did
that as well as she did. Or it took the ideas others had and did it best. This
is where The House on Haunted Hill
stands.

It is not the first story or movie about a bunch of people
trapped in a supposedly haunted mansion with someone who may be psycho. But it
is one of the best.

Continue reading “House on Haunted Hill”

George Armstrong Custer, American Civil War general and of Little Bighorn fame, was born on this date in 1839. Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong CusterBy Louise BarnettWith a new preface by the author “There is much unusual and useful information about life on the plains, Indian warfare, the danger and fear of captivity by Indians, and especially, the relationship between Custer and his wife.”—New York Times Book Review Feathering Custer By W. S. Penn2002 Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Writer of the Year “Feathering Custer points to the need for critical … Continue reading General Custer’s Birthday

n the world of literature, fantasy, science fiction, and horror do not rate. Those of us in sf tend to bemoan this fact. Why are we not taken seriously? Why does the establishment not give us our due? Here’s a strange thought. Maybe, in a lot of cases, we deserve it.

Of the three speculative fiction types, science fiction certainly has the most possibility for respect. Soft sociological sf is generally seen as "serious". Fantasy and horror are more difficult, though not impossible. There is the increasingly "serious" magical realism group. And Joyce Carol Oates seems to enjoy her associations with horror, providing an introduction to an H.P. Lovecraft anthology and certainly never seeming to mind being included in the horror category sometimes, as Margaret Atwood does so idiotically with sf. So it is possible to be taken seriously, however, on the whole, if you mention any of the speculative genres to the average person (not the 5% of us who are regular readers) they will assume it is not art. Not Literature. Not worthy. Because in a lot of cases they are right.

Continue reading “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”