RaveNew York Journal of BooksDespite their geo-historical settings, most Caiplie poems are accessible to general readers. Solie does not write in obscure words. Her style is almost lyrical, though placed under the heft of quaint history ...The Caiplie poems carry metaphysical streaks, and Solie demonstrates an urge for philosophizing events, observations, and phenomena ... Then there are poetic fragments scattered throughout the poems, which captivate the readers. The reader pauses and searches for meaning though it\'s unclear whether the fragment has any meaning in the poem, or any meaning anywhere. The fragments refuse to surrender to the captivated mind ... The words, the ideas, the passion, everything about the poems is subdued, understated, reserved, except for the \'fuck\' derivatives sprinkled here and there, which, too, produce little commotion ... first-rate poetry, clean of clichés, free of thickheaded imagery, demonstrating good heartedness, reveling in diluted mysticism, drawing on inconsequential stories from the shores of Scotland.
Luke Fernandez and Susan J. Matt
PositiveNew York Journal of BooksWhether \'55 Americans\' authentically reflect the emotional states of more than 327 million residents of the United States is a statistical irritant. The strength of each chapter, dedicated to a specific emotion listed in the book’s title, lies more in historical materials rather than interviews. The historical evidence provides fascinating accounts of the effect of earlier technologies, such as postal service and telegraph, on social behavior ... The book is a valuable addition to the study of social behavior influenced by technologies. The authors have worked hard in aggregating thousands of small pieces of evidence scattered in diverse historical and modern sources to build an illuminating context in which we can begin to fathom our emotional states entangled with technologies.
Ed. by Brad Evans and Natasha Lennard
RaveNew York Journal of BooksIf you wish to read the intellectualization of violence, Violence is a phenomenal anthology ... Each description of violence, real and metaphorical, if read alone, outside the anthology, is credible and even gratifying as a piece of literature. However, the anthology aggregates the scholarly insights and expert intuitions to forge a sum much larger than the parts. The anthology still qualifies as good literature delivering edgy delight, but it also tenders a panoramic view of American culture that perpetrates, savors, shows off, sometimes hides, and sometimes celebrates violence ... Violence is a valuable contribution to both creative literature and American sociology. Writers, critics, ethicists, and painters reveal social maladies.
Sudipta Sen
PositiveThe New York Journal of BooksDoes not disclose any new information culled from any lost and found scrolls, papyruses, sketches, artifacts, or manuscripts. The book relies on various known but scattered sources to trace the many biographies of the river. It is a sort of meta-analysis that skillfully pulls together the bits and pieces of information, the macro and micro stories, from various disciplines to compose a more panoramic view of the Ganges, popularly known as Ganga in many languages of the sub-continent ... almost a reference book, written over many years as the complexity of details demonstrates. It is a scholarly tome that brings together historical materials related and unrelated to the river ... This Yale book is a sumptuous buffet and there is plenty for everyone to savor, munch, binge, and even take some home for family and friends.
Kevin Young
PositiveThe New York Journal of Books\"Each of the four parts of the book, each a cluster of long and short poems, is named after an actual (and representational) train. Each train is packed with sad and joyous moments and storied passengers, some unfamiliar to the readers ... Displaying craft and artistry, the Brown poems furnish a delight to ponder over poetic observations, images, and ideas that are joined, dis-joined, and rejoined through clever placement of words in succeeding verses and varying pauses ... With poems so promising, Young is destined to receive acclamation in the world, beyond racial and national walls that have been built or might be built in the future. However, he needs to absorb non-local consciousness to reach the next level of quantum poetry.\
