SPRING 2007

Noah Eli Gordon, Vinea Press, Jerome Rothenberg, André Gregory, and more...

INTERVIEWS

Reconsidering the World: An Interview with Noah Eli Gordon
Interviewed by Joshua Marie Wilkinson
A prolific younger poet discusses his writing process and the 2007 publication of four collections of poetry.

FEATURE

Vinea Press
Reviewed by Robert Murray Davis
Four new translations of recent Romanian poetry present a broad spectrum of styles and voices.

REVIEWS: POETRY

Necessary Stranger
Graham Foust
Foust’s third collection of compact poems examines the mediated experience of our current culture with a dispassionate yet humorous voice. Reviewed by Chris McCreary

China Notes & the Treasures of Dunhuang
Jerome Rothenberg
An ethnopoetic explorer delivers two slim volumes of poetry in one excellent collection, inspired by a trip throughout China and the specter of Pound’s imagined Far East. Reviewed by Lucas Klein

Bond Sonnets
Clark Coolidge
An important collection from one of America’s most prolific and experimental writers offers eighteen sonnets riffing on the secret agent/binding agent theme. Reviewed by Noah Eli Gordon

The Imaginary Poets
Edited by Alan Michael Parker
Twenty-two American poets each invented a poet who wrote in a language not English and then “translated” one of that poet's works. This book is the result. Reviewed by Stephen Burt

REVIEWS: DRAMA

Bone Songs
André Gregory
The legendary theater director has written a unique play that is sometimes called "After Dinner with André" in performance. Reviewed by Justin Maxwell

REVIEWS: AUDIO

Rockdrill 8: Via
Caroline Bergvall
Surrealism’s Bad Rap
Garrett Caples
Two offerings of oral poetry deliver voices that are deeply marked, accented, and tuned to the relativity of meaning and expression. Reviewed by Christine Hume

REVIEWS: FICTION

Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead
Alan DeNiro
DeNiro's marvelous characters walk the thin line between other-worldliness and corporeality in his first collection of stories. Reviewed by Rod Smith

Muntaha
Hala El Badry
Badry’s excellent work is both specific and panoramic in its portrayal of a single man living in post-WWII Egypt and the rich history of his village in the early part of the twentieth century. Reviewed by Rudi Dornemann

The Meteor Hunt
Jules Verne
This recently published and more accurate version of the text shows why Verne is still admired by readers today. Reviewed by Ryder W. Miller

REVIEWS: COMICS

Are We Feeling Safer Yet?: A (Th)ink Anthology
Keith Knight
Knight’s single-panel snapshots of politics and current events take an unflinching look at war, torture, and poverty with wit, humor, and style. Reviewed by William Alexander

REVIEWS: NONFICTION

Neck Deep: And Other Predicaments
Ander Monson
This collection of unconventional, autobiographical essays showcases the wide range of a writer who swashbuckles across genres. Reviewed by Jessica Bennett

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
Francine Prose
"Can creative writing be taught?" An acclaimed novelist and essayist poses this question in a world gone mad with MFA programs. Reviewed by Eva Ulett

The Affected Provincial's Companion, Volume One
Lord Breaulove Swells Whimsy
This book is not only a witty appraisal of dandyism but an anti-apocalyptic enticement to forge one's own life and world. Reviewed by Maria Christoforatos

VACUM ATTACHMENT

The Classical Trivium: The Place of Thomas Nashe in the Learning of His Time
Marshall McLuhan
Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots
Timothy N. Hornyak
Two books reconsider aspects of the world through a new lens of understanding: McLuhan’s recontextualizes Renaissance rhetoric for the postmodern era, while Hornyak’s revises Western ideas of robotics through the lens of Japanese history. Reviewed by Ann Klefstad

Rain Taxi Online Edition, Spring 2007 | © Rain Taxi, Inc. 2007